Charles K. Wilkinson
NISHAPUR
POTTERY
OF THE
EARLY
ISLAMIC
PERIOD I
NISHAPUR: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period
Color Plate 1
Bowl; Inanimate buff ware
Group 1, 20 a,b; page 10
NISHAPUR:
Pottery of the Early Islamic Period
CHARLES K, WILKINSON, curator emeritus, near easternart
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Distributed by NEW YORK GRAPHIC SOCIETY, Greenwich, Connecticut
ON THE jacket:
Inanimate buff ware bowl (Group 1, 47 a,b)
ON THE cover:
Inscription from a black on white ware bowl (Group 3, 22)
redrawn by Manuel Keene
Designed by Peter Oldenburg
Printed by the Press of A. Coiish, Inc.
Color plates made by Briider Hartmann, Berlin
Bound by A. Horowitz 8c Son
Maps within the text drawn by Joseph P. Ascherl
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle, 1897-
Nishapur: pottery of the early Islamic period.
Bibliography: p.
1. Pottery, Islamic — ^Neyshabur, Iran. 2. Pottery —
Neyshabur, Iran. I. Title.
NK4148.N49W56 738.3'0955'92 73-9795
ISBN 0-87099-076-4
To the late Walter Hauser
and to Joseph M. Upton,
with whom the author had the privilege
and pleasure of working in Nishapur.
Contents
Foreword ix
Color Plates xiii
Introduction xxiii
1 Buff Ware 3
2 Color-splashed Ware 54
3 Black on White Ware 90
4 Polychrome on White Ware 128
5 Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe 158
6 Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations 179
7 Opaque Yellow Ware 205
8 Ware with Yellow-staining Black 213
9 Monochrome Ware 229
10 Chinese Wares 254
11 AlkaUne-glazed Ware and Its Molds 259
12 Unglazed Ware 290
Appendix 364
BibUography 371
Foreword
The author of this book, our friend and colleague
Charles Kyrle Wilkinson, is a man of many talents and of
unusual and important achievements. During his forty-
three years with this museum he achieved something of a
record, as he worked with great distinction in what are
now three separate departments — Egyptian Art, Ancient
Near Eastern Art, and Islamic Art. Beginning as an artist
copying tomb paintings in upper Egypt and the Khargeh
Oasis for the Museum's Egyptian expeditions, he rose to
the top of the curatorial profession. Appointed first in
1953 as Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology in the De-
partment of Egyptian Art, he was made curator of the
new Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art in 1956,
and then, in 1959, he was named curator of the combined
Ancient Near Eastern Art and Islamic Art departments.
Among Wilkinson's activities here, I should hke to
single out the extensive exhibition "Art Treasures of the
MetropoHtan," presented in 1959 when the Museum was
being remodeled. Another of his major achievements was
the new installation of ancient Near Eastern art at the
north end of the building in 1960. To have a quick indi-
cation of the richness of the material and the informative
and attractive manner in which it was shown, one recalls
what Professor Diakonov, head of the Asian Institute in
Leningrad, said when introducing Wilkinson at a confer-
ence held at the Hermitage Museum in 1971. Diakonov
referred to Wilkinson as the man who had made the best
archeological presentation he had ever seen in any mu-
seum. His most recent achievement, in 1972, has been an
imaginative presentation of Islamic art from the ninth to
the nineteenth century at the Brooklyn Museum.
Wilkinson participated in a leading capacity in two
MetropoKtan excavations in Iran — one, from 1932 to
1935, at the Sasanian settlement of Qasr-i-abu Nasr, near
Shiraz, the other, from 1935 to 1940, at the Islamic site of
ancient Nishapur, where the ceramics discussed in this
book were found. During his tenure at the Museum, Wil-
kinson acquired many outstanding objects, particularly
for the then newly developing Department of Ancient
Near Eastern Art; at his instigation an important group
of objects came to the Museum from the Joseph Brum-
mer sale. A gold cup from MarHk, decorated with gazelles,
deserves individual mention among Wilkinson's acquisi-
tions, as it is one of the finest pieces from the early Iranian
civilization to be found outside Iran.
Retirement from the Museum as Curator Emeritus in
1963 has by no means meant a leisurely life for Charles
Wilkinson. He immediately launched into other activities.
In the fall of 1963 he produced an exhibition of Iranian
pottery at the Asia House Gallery, for which he wrote an
outstanding catalogue. Beginning in 1964 he served as
Adjunct Professor of Islamic Art at Columbia University,
only giving up this academic assignment in 1969 to be-
come the first Hagop Kevorkian Curator of Middle East-
ern Art and Archaeology at the Brooklyn Museum, the
collection comprising both ancient and Islamic art of that
area. In 1968, in conjunction with the Metropolitan, he
presented the exhibition ^^Chess : East and West, Past and
Present" at the Brooklyn Museum and coauthored its
fine catalogue. It is not surprising that the Abegg-Stiftung
of Bern asked him to write its first monograph, entitled
Two Ram-Headed Vessels from Iran,
One may well ask how a scholar working with great
distinction as artist, archeologist, curator, and teacher
has been able to gain such success in so wide a variety of
posts. The answer is first of all that Wilkinson has always
had a highly discerning eye for artistic quahty. It has
stood him in good stead to have come from an artistic
home (his father was an artist in stained glass) and to
have been trained at the Slade School of Art at University
College, London. Indeed, this artistic training has always
been dear to him, and he has painted whenever possible
all his Kfe. In addition, it is Wilkinson's gift of empathy
for ancient civilizations and the human aspect of their
artifacts that has helped him immeasurably in his en-
deavors, both as curator and professor, to interpret these
cultures of the past. Finally, it is his abifity to communi-
cate in a scholarly yet personal manner that has made
him such a successful teacher.
The Museum's excavations at Nishapur, begun in 1935,
were directed by Joseph M. Upton, Walter Hauser, and
Charles Wilkinson, who brought out jointly the preUmi-
IX
X
nary reports in the Museum's Bulletin. Then World War
II came, digging haked, and the trio scattered. Upton joined
the State Department as a Near Eastern expert. Hauser
took up other functions at the Museum, assuming the
post of librarian, and then died prematurely. Thus Wil-
kinson alone carried on the task of doing further research
on the finds at Nishapur with the view of eventually pub-
lishing the results. He wrote a number of highly percep-
tive articles for various publications, including our Bul-
letin^ seeking to elucidate the uses of a variety of Islamic
objects, their social functions, and the techniques used
to produce them. We hope that he will continue to pub-
lish the results of the excavations at Nishapur, one day
giving us a volume on another important group of objects
found, the stuccoed dadoes and the painted wall deco-
rations.
From the beginning it was planned to publish a volume
on the pottery alone, the most outstanding of the finds,
but this goal was long delayed due to the lingering illness
of Hauser, who was to have been Wilkinson's collabora-
tor. Now, at last, the Museum is happy to present this
most important work. It opens to scholars and laymen
alike a scientific and systematic way to study a large group
of certifiably genuine material of great artistic merit.
Nishapur pottery has become known primarily because
of the Museum's excavations and follows in popularity
only three other groups of Iranian pottery — those from
Rayy (formerly called Rhages), Kashan, and Gurgan.
Pottery from Nishapur is now in practically every mu-
seum and private collection of Iranian art throughout the
world. Wilkinson has not, however, been satisfied with
the mere listing of the excavations' finds and their thor-
ough discussion. He has endeavored to place the various
pottery types into the mainstream of ceramic history and
to establish connections with other sites, particularly with
Afrasiyab, near Samarkand in the Soviet Union, and with
other centers in Iran. All these aspects make Nishapur:
Pottery of the Early Islamic Period an important addition
to the history of archeological research in Iran. In view of
Wilkinson's profound knowledge of the whole period and
of the wealth of material excavated, his book will surely
be a milestone in the history of our knowledge of Near
Eastern ceramics.
Thomas Hoving
Director
Color Plates
Color Plate 2
Bowl; Animate buff ware
Group 1, 59; pages 17-^19
Color Plate 3
Bowl; Graffiato color-splashed ware
Group 2, 56; page 67
XIV
Color Plate 4
Bowl; Graffiato color-splashed ware
Group 2, 66; page 69
XV
Color Plate 5
Bowl; Polychrome on white
Group 4s 2; page 131
Color Plate 6
Bowl; Polychrome on white ware
Group 4, 48; pages 142-143
xvli
Color Plate 7
Dishes; Slip-painted ware
with colored engobe
Group 5, 17, 50; pages 163, 169
Color Plate 8
Bowl; Imitation luster ware
Group 6, 50; page 193
XIX
Color Plate 9
Bowl; Ware with yellow-staining black
Group 8, 9; page 218
Introduction
xxu
Introduction
Three decades ago the ancient city of Nishapur in the
province of Khurasan in northeast Iran was excavated by
the Iranian Expedition of The Metropohtan Museum of
Art. The site was chosen because many references to the
city in Arabic and Persian Hterature indicated that Nish-
apur had been founded in the Sasanian period (a.d. 322-
636) and that it was for several centuries in the succeeding
Islamic period a town of great importance, with flourish-
ing arts and crafts. From such records the assumption
was made that a controlled investigation of the site would
produce material of importance and add to our knowledge
of the city, the people who hved there, and their decora-
tive arts. Prior to 1935 antiquities from Nishapur had
been acquired only in a haphazard way: either by trav-
elers and visitors to the town, including the writer Henry-
Rene d'AUemagne, who was there in 1907 and illustrated
some of his acquisitions {Du Khorassan aupays des Backh-
tiaris, frois mois de voyage en Perse, Paris, 1911, II, p. 119),
or from the antiquities market, which received objects
produced by minor commercial excavations. An example
from the latter source is a bowl in the Metropolitan Mu-
seum acquired in 1915 (15.85.1) labeled as "said to have
come from Nishapur." Antiquities from Nishapur also
reached the market indirectly as a result of the normal
practice of local farmers digging away at the various
mounds that dot the site to obtain their substance, the
detritus of unbaked, sun-dried bricks, to scatter on their
fields as fertihzer. The beneficial effect was doubtless due
to the ammonia salts from the latrines. This procedure,
undoubtedly of long standing, was reported in 1897
(Yate, Khurasan and Sistan, p. 410), and it has never
abated.
In 1935, after the present writer had made a prelimi-
nary investigation of the site, the Museum's expedition
conducted some test digs at selected points in the vast
ruin fields of the ancient city. The tests confirmed the
desirabihty of a sustained investigation, and a recom-
mendation to this efiect was made to the Museum's trust-
ees by Maurice S. Dimand, the curator of Near Eastern
Art. Approved by the trustees, the project was financed
from the Rogers Fund, and excavations were carried out
under a concession granted the Museum by the Iranian
government (Council of Ministers) on the recommenda-
tion of the Ministry of Education of Iran. Work began in
1935 and continued until 1947, with the active digging
coming to an end in 1940, when the state of afiairs caused
by the outbreak of the Second World War made suspen-
sion advisable. A short season in 1947 was conducted to
tidy up and to surrender the concession.
After the work began, attention was concentrated on a
few rewarding sites from which large quantities of Islamic
materials were obtained. This was chiefly pottery, most
of it ranging in date from the ninth to the beginning of
the thirteenth century. Half of the material, in accordance
with the Iranian antiquities law of 1930, was turned over
to the Muze Iran Bastan in Teheran; the rest went to the
Metropohtan. From the late Andre Godard, director gen-
eral of the Iranian Antiquities Service, from Dr. Muham-
med Mostafavi, his successor, and from other members of
the Service, nothing but kindness and help were received.
The divisions of the excavated material between the two
parties were conducted under conditions ensuring the ut-
most fairness, with final exchanges being efiected so that
each museum should have an equal and truly representa-
tive collection.
The excavations were conducted by the same three
who had constituted the MetropoHtan's original Iranian
Expedition and had worked at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, near Shi-
raz, from 1932 to 1935. They were Joseph M. Upton, the
Museum's assistant curator of Near Eastern Art, the late
Walter Hauser, who was transferred from the Egyptian
Expedition, of which he had been a member since 1919,
and the present writer, who had also served on the Egyp-
tian Expedition, starting in 1920, Lindsley F. Hall, of the
Egyptian Department, assisted for part of one season at
Nishapur, making some drawings. The final season of
1947 was conducted by Walter Hauser and the writer.
One or two pressing problems were solved in this season;
a few kilns were cleared, the storerooms were emptied,
and the concession was surrendered.
In addition to yielding a great quantity of earthenware,
both glazed and unglazed, the excavations produced much
xxni
XXIV
Introduction
glass, some metalwork, many coins, and some remains of
wall decoration in the form of ornamental bricks (a few
of which were glazed), carved and painted stucco, and
paintiags in black or polychrome on white plaster. The
pottery alone is presented in this publication. The pot-
tery of Nishapur, if thoroughly studied — and study does
not end, of course, with the work of the excavators — can
give one many insights into the culture of Islam from the
ninth century onward. As this pottery is compared with,
or contrasted to, that which comes from other Islamic
centers all the way from Egypt to Transoxiana, our
knowledge of the ceramic history of the Near East is
greatly increased. The excavations were comprehensive
enough to prevent making the errors that are apt to arise
from trial sondages. These, like any limited tests, can be
misleading. Of this we had practical experience at Nish-
apur, and it will be seen that the findings of this book are
at variance with some of our first reports published in
the Museum's Bulletin (September, 1936, pp. 176-180;
October, 1937, pp. 3-22; November, 1938, pp. 3-23;
April, 1942, pp. 83-119). Unfortunately, some of the ap-
parently well-based but actually erroneous dates of the
first reports have found their way into books by other
writers. Analyses of clay and glaze, originally intended as
an appendix, are planned as a separate work for the
future.
The pieces catalogued in this book are only those that
were excavated by the Museum in the period 1935-1940
or the closing year of 1947, plus a few pieces that were
acquired by the expedition directly from the peasants
who discovered them while working in their fields or
while building some new roads. Nothing presented here
was purchased in the market or was found elsewhere than
in Nishapur. This limitation has been maintained because
of the great desirabiUty of presenting a large body of ma-
terial that genuinely came from the soil of Nishapur. The
temptation to illustrate other material, reputed to come
from Nishapur and close in style to our finds, was strong,
since much of it is of fine quality and of great archeologi-
cal interest. But to ensure that the material in the present
pubKcation is of impeccable origin, usable without fear
as a basis for comparison, the temptation was rejected.
The need for a strictly accurate yardstick has become ur-
gent because of the flooding of the market wdth "Nisha-
pur" pieces — a development due in no small degree to
the success of the Museum's expedition. After the sur-
render of the concession, the sites were ransacked with
the sole purpose of finding salable objects. "Nishapur"
pottery now appears in the collections of many museums
and private persons. While much of it undoubtedly comes
from Nishapur, a great deal of it undoubtedly does not.
Some of it obviously comes from other sites, and some of
it is not ancient at all, or consists of sherds so pieced to-
gether and completed that the result is a fraudulent mix-
ture of unrelated parts. To add to the confusion, some of
the pottery made in cities such as Gurgan, some two hun-
dred and seventy miles west-northwest of Nishapur, and
Juwain near Sabzewar, the ancient Baihaq, seventy miles
west of Nishapur, and Qumis, still further west, closely
resembles pottery made in Nishapur. The indiscriminate
use of the name Nishapur sometimes makes the problem
of determining what was made there, and what was im-
ported there in ancient times, quite difiicult.
Apart from the Hmitation just described, not all the
pottery that was unearthed in the excavations is included
here. The quantity was enormous, and the sherds num-
bered in the thousands. Furthermore, many of the ves-
sels, more or less complete, were similarly decorated or
offered variations so slight that the publication of all
would serve no useful purpose. The necessary selection
has not been made on aesthetic grounds. There has been
no attempt to "show the best." The intention is to pre-
sent, in as practical a manner as possible, a sufiicient body
of authentic material to represent truly what was used in
Nishapur in ancient times.
The period covered ends in the early thirteenth cen-
tury, since the excavated areas were only sparsely popu-
lated after the sack of the city by the Mongols in 1221.
Nishapur was making good glazed pottery from the four-
teenth century on, as we know from stray sherds found
there, but since these sherds were in no way connected
with the Museum's controlled digging, they are not pre-
sented here. (They were presented at the Transactions
of the Fifth International Iranian Congress of 1968.)
Here it may be said that it is not possible to give the
entire picture of the pottery of Nishapur from the Sasan-
ian period to modern times. The completion of the pic-
ture could have come only after properly conducted ex-
cavations subsequent to those of the MetropoKtan Mu-
seum. Although we dug to virgin soil in a numher of
places, no sign was found of any Sasanian building, and
the lack of foreknowledge that 1940 would be the last
fuU season precluded the change in the modus operandi
that would otherwise have been efiected to obtain this
basic and still missing data. The subsequent ravaging of
the sites for commercial purposes has made any future
attempt much more diflScult, apart from its destruction
of an incalculable amount of information concerning the
pottery, the architecture, and the location of various areas
of the ancient city known by name from the works of
early writers. Some of this digging was technically legiti-
mate, an unfortunate clause in the antiquities law of
1930 permitting commercial excavation so long as part
of the finds are turned over to the Muze Iran Bastan.
Introduction
XXV
The intention was to give the Iranian Antiquities Service,
at no cost to itself, know^ledge of the ancient sites in Iran,
but it is deplorable nonetheless that a site proved of the
first importance should be opened to ruthless exploita-
tion. Nishapur deserved a better fate than death by
looting.
History of Nishapur
Present-day Nishapur is a tov^n with a railroad station
that serves as the marketing center of a large and produc-
tive area. The oldest part of it was built in the fifteenth
century after the devastating earthquake of 1405. In the
town stands a congregational mosque erected in 1493/4.
The town was walled until the third decade of the present
century, when a gateway (see illustration opposite p. 245
in Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of Omar
Khayyam) and some remaining stretches of waU were de-
moHshed on the order of H.I.M. Shah Riza Pahlavi, who
wanted no walled towns to exist in his country. In the
1930s Nishapur had a bazaar half a mile in length, with
dyers and felt makers, fabric printers, and a modest
number of metalworkers. Potters made both glazed and
unglazed pottery, but only in the commonest sort of
ware, such as water jars, could their productions bear
comparisons with the pottery of their early predecessors.
None of the modern production was being exported far-
ther than to the neighboring villages — a far cry from the
flourishing trade described by a writer of the tenth cen-
tury, who tells of each hostelry in the Nishapur bazaar
"being as large as a bazar in other cities. It produces vari-
ous kinds of fine hnens, cotton goods, and raw silk, all
of which (because of their excellence and abundance) are
exported to other lands of Islam, and even of Christen-
dom; for kings themselves and nobles value them as wear-
ing apparel" (Ibn Hauqal [978] based on Istakhri [951],
quoted in Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of
Omar Khayyam, p. 253). As a mercantile center Nishapur
has indeed diminished, some of its former functions hav-
ing passed on to Mashhad, and it is no longer, as it was
in early Islamic times, a seat of military and political au-
thority. This change undoubtedly resulted from the ac-
tion of the Shi^ite Safavid kings who, in the sixteenth cen-
tury, for political and economic ends, stimulated rehgious
interest in the shrine of the eighth Imam, Ah ar-Rida
(known locally as the Imam Riza), in Mashhad. This di-
version of pilgrims from the Shi^ite shrines in Iraq to the
one in Mashhad was encouraged right on into the present
century, causing Mashhad to become wealthy and impor-
tant to the detriment of Nishapur, which can boast only
the shrine of a martyr related to the Imam, that of Mu-
hammad Mahruq. He reposes today beneath a much re-
stored tile-covered dome built in the seventeenth century.
Nishapur is situated in a fertile plain, part of the great
plateau of central Iran. The plain is rimmed to the north
by high mountains of which the taUest peak. Mount Bin-
alud, rises nearly seven thousand feet above the plain, or
nearly eleven thousand feet above sea level. The moun-
tains separate the Nishapur plain from a plain to the east
in which Mashhad and the erstwhile city of Tus are situ-
ated, while to the west-northwest the plain of Gurgan
extends to the southeast shore of the Caspian Sea. South
of Nishapur the plain continues to be fertile for a few
miles and then, for lack of water, fades into desert. The
present town and the nearby land are watered to a smaU
extent by rainfall but mostly from the mountains, atop
which snow remains for most of the summer. The moun-
tain water is carried in streams and underground aque-
ducts, called qanats, that start at the foothills. Qanats
have long existed here, giving the disgruntled Arab trav-
eler the opportunity to say, according to a writer of the
eleventh century, that Nishapur would have been a most
attractive town were the water above the ground and the
people beneath it (Nasir ibn Khusrau, Relation du voyage,
appendix 11, p. 278).
The extensive plain of Nishapur, famous for its fertility
and pleasant cUmate, is highly suitable for a settlement,
and there has been a populous center here from prehis-
toric times. Furthermore, tliis strip of rich agricultural
land, bounded by mountains to the north and desert to
the south, has long served as a corridor for peoples, ar-
mies, merchants, and travelers of all kinds passing be-
tween Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the west and Sog-
diana, Transoxiana, India, and China to the east. It was
not the only such route, for there was another to the
north of the Nishapur mountains, but history makes it
clear that the route past Nishapur was of the utmost im-
portance. In the thirteenth century Yaqut, in his famous
geographical dictionary, called Nishapur "the gateway to
to the east" (Barbier de Meynard, Dictionnaire geograph-
ique^ p. 580).
Although there are historical references to more an-
cient settlements in this plain, no towns can be identified
by name before the Sasanian period. Nishapur, by its very
name, says that it was founded by Shapur I (c. 240-270)
or Shapur II (307-379). (The origin of the city is well
discussed in Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of
Omar Khayyam, pp. 248-250, and further helpful ob-
servations vdU be found in Frye, The Histories of Nisha-
pur, p. 8.) In the Sasanian and early Islamic periods the
city was also known as Aparshahr or Abarshahr and was
the capital of a district so named. R. N. Frye has con-
firmed that Sasanian seal impressions as well as coins of
these periods bear this name (Frye, Iranica Antiqua, VIII,
p. 131, pi. XXX, no. 32). From Syriac sources it is known
XXVI
Introduction
that Nishapur was the seat of a Nestorian diocese in 430
(Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khay-
yam, p. 250, n. 4, for other references).
No real trace has yet been found of Sasanian Nishapur.
Various writers have suggested that it lies in the ruin
fields to the southeast of the present town. According to
Lord Curzon {Persia, I, p. 262), the Sasanian remains are
traceable around the tomb of Muhammad Mahruq, but in
this he was probably mistaken. In 1908, Major P. M.
Sykes, the British consul in Mashhad, a man much inter-
ested in Nishapur, concluded that the Sasanian city
would be found in Janatabad, a village some twenty-four
miles to the southeast (Sykes, The Geographical Journal,
XXXVII, pp. 152-156). Although it is obvious that Nish-
apur, like some other ancient cities in western Asia, has
not always been in one fixed location, in contrast to others
that were rebuilt more than once on their ruins, the site of
Janatabad does seem rather a long distance away. The
Museum's excavations, with their negative evidence,
strongly suggest that the Sasanian city existed outside any
area so far examined, including Tepe Alp Arslan, the
highest of the mounds in the ruin fields, and the apron-
like mound adjoining it. In his thesis "The Topography
and Topographic History of Nishapur" (Ph.D. disserta-
tion. Harvard University, 1966), Richard W. Bulliet
maintains that Tepe Alp Arslan was the Sasanian fortress
and the apron the walled Sasanian city; both, he says,
would be discovered if one dug deep enough. Though it
is of course possible that some Sasanian evidence might
be produced by large-scale digging there, I regard it as
unlikely for two reasons. First, the Museum's test digs
in those two areas, admittedly sondages only, produced
almost nothing that was positively Sasanian ; furthermore,
in the considered opinion of the expedition the apron was
not inhabited before the eighth century at the very earli-
est. The second reason is that an enormous amount of
digging has gone on at Tepe Alp Arslan for at least a
hundred years, not from the top down, but from the level
in, and even so, no Sasanian antiquities have been discov-
ered, except conceivably a stray coin or two. The Sasan-
ian coins Yate says were brought to him {Khurasan and
Sistan^ p. 412) prove Httle since such coins were ordinar-
ily carried from place to place. It is surely significant that
during the Metropolitan's excavations over a period of
five years only seven pre-Islamic coins were discovered,
one Parthian and six Sasanian. Three of the Sasanian
coins and the Parthian coin came from Sabz Pushan, a
site that was thoroughly dug and is definitely post-Sasan-
ian, and the other three came from a mound close to Tepe
Alp Arslan, the Qanat Tepe, which is also post-Sasanian.
Only one of the Sasanian coins was found at a low level;
the finding of the others at higher levels confirms that
they were kept long after they were minted. As for other
Sasanian antiquities in the Museum's excavations, only a
few pieces of pottery were discovered, and they were of
a type that persisted into the ninth century at least. This
point was determined earlier at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, where
the Museum's expedition found a great quantity of Sasan-
ian pottery together with some other Sasanian material.
Wherever the Sasanian city was, near or far from
present-day Nishapur and its ruin fields, it fell, according
to the Arab historians Tabari (830-923) and Baladhuri
(d. 892), to an army of the third orthodox caliph, Othman
(644-656), led by 'Abdallah ibn 'Amir of Basra. The
Arabs were then driven out after an uprising in Khurasan
and in Tukharistan, to the east of Balkh, in 656-657.
Then, in 661, 'Abdallah was reinstated by the first Umay-
yad caliph, Mu'awiya, and commissioned to conquer
Khurasan and Sistan, a province to the south. From this
time on, although the city's history was somewhat check-
ered by quarrels among the Arab leaders, the rulers of
Nishapur were Muhammadans. A point to bear in mind
is that Khurasan ("The Land of the Rising Sun") was
much larger during the period under study here than it
is now, and Nishapur was but one of its capital cities.
The others were Merv, Herat, and Balkh. Merv, some
two hundred miles north of Nishapur, is today in Turk-
menistan; Herat and Balkh are in Afghanistan. All four
are connoted in mentions of Khurasan in this book.
During the early period of Arab domination of Nisha-
pur the conquering general, 'Abdallah ibn 'Amir, de-
stroyed the Zoroastrian fire temple and built a congrega-
tional mosque on its site, allowing the Zoroastrians to build
a new temple at some distance away (see original text of
Kitab anval'i Nishapur, f. 66b, as reproduced in Frye,
The Histories of Nishapur), The physical remains of
these buildings have been discovered. Although there is
no contemporary evidence of this, it is likely that the
Umayyad city was geographically identical with the Sas-
anian. The expedition's failure to find any trace of the
transitional city stands in contrast to the findings at
Qasr-i-abu Nasr, a true transitional site of the same pe-
riod. One of the features of the work there was the dis-
covery of both true Sasanian coins and coins of the early
Islamic period in Sasanian style with Arabic superscrip-
tions. The practice of continuing the Sasanian style was
sustained for some time and has been noted at other sites,
such as Rayy (George C. Miles, The Numismatic History
of Rayy, New York, 1938, pp. 5-7). That not a single
such coin was found at Nishapur must indicate that no
buildings of the Sasanian or the early Umayyad period
were uncovered. By extension, no Sasanian or early
Umayyad pottery will be found in this publication, be-
yond, perhaps, a stray survival.
One of the most important events in Arab history of
the early Islamic era was the change from the Umayyad
Introduction
xxvii
caliphate, with its seat in Syria, to the Abbasid caliphate
estabhshed in Iraq. The rebelUon against the Umayyads
was begun in Khurasan by a Persian, Abu MusHm, who,
under a black flag, the emblem of the insurgent Abbasids,
entered Nishapur as conquerer in 748. By 750 the Umay-
yad caliphate was extinguished, and Abu'l Abbas al-
Saffah was seated as the first Abbasid caliph. With this
change, the Iranians were in the ascendant for many
years, their status vis-a-vis the Arabs vastly improved.
While he was governor of Khurasan, Abu MusHm built
in the eastern cities of Merv, Samarkand, and Nishapur,
and in Nishapur a few coins have been found that bear
witness to his power. Following his death — he was assas-
sinated in 755 by the second Abbasid caUph, al-Mansur —
seventy-five years passed during which there are no his-
torical references to construction in Nishapur. In this
period there were several insurrections against the cahph-
ate and many changes of governor. That Nishapur was an
important place at this time is obvious from the number
of times it is mentioned by contemporary writers and
from the fact that two caliphs, before succeeding to that
high oflSce, were honorary governors there : al-Mahdi in
758 and al-Ma'mun in 796. The latter lived in Nishapur
six years before he was installed at Baghdad. During the
caKphate of his father, Harun al-Rashid, we hear of his
being given by AH ibn Isa, governor of Khurasan from
796 to 806, a magnificent gift of Chinese porcelain. This
is a matter of some interest in regard to the pottery of
Nishapur in that the remains of Chinese porcelain and
pottery were found in the Museum's excavations.
After playing its part in the rise to power of the Ab-
basid dynasty, Khurasan became, in the ninth century,
a virtuaUy autonomous province. The beginning of this
development can be said to be CaHph al-Ma'mun's ap-
pointment of a new governor, in 820, for the eastern re-
gion. This ruler, Tahir ibn al-Husain, an able and suc-
cessful general, nicknamed Ambidexter, had his capital
at Merv. The dynasty that he estabhshed, and that flour-
ished mostly within the bounds of Khurasan, is known
as the Tahirid. As far as Nishapur is concerned, the most
important of the Tahirids was "^Abdallah, the second of
the Hue, who chose Nishapur as his capital, deeming its
cHmate better and its larger population generally more
agreeable than that of Merv.
^Abdallah ibn Tahir built his palace and his ofiicers'
quarters in the most famous of the suburbs of Nishapur,
Shadyakh — distinguished, be it observed, from Nishapur
itself. The name presents some difiiculties : first, because
it is sometimes identified with Nishapur itself, and also
because it has not always been ascribed to precisely the
same place. In the twentieth century the name has been
associated with an area enclosed by high ruined walls to
the west of the shrine of Muhammad Mahruq and the
tomb that is assumed to be that of Omar Khayyam; this
is where Shadyakh is indicated on Sykes's map {The Geo-
graphical Journal, XXXVII, p. 153). There is reason, as
will be seen later, to beHeve that the original Shadyakh
lay to the east of this walled enclosure.
That Nishapur was vastly improved as a city under ^Ab-
dallah ibn Tahir is suggested by the fact that he spent a
million dirhems of his own fortune in building qanats
(Bos worth, The Ghaznavids, p. 157). The Tahirid dy-
nasty, after about fifty years, was displaced by the Safiarid,
which, Hke its predecessor, was more or less autonomous,
operating sometimes with and sometimes without the
caHph's approval. MiHtary adventurers, the Safi'arids
came to power under Ya ^qub ibn Layth al Saffar f Hhe
Coppersmith"), who expanded his sphere of influence
from the province of Sis tan, south of Khurasan, to include
Fars, of which Shiraz was the capital. By 872 he had taken
Khurasan from the Tahirids. His brother and successor,
'Amr ibn Layth, ruled aU these provinces and Kurdistan
as well. ^Amr ibn Layth did much to enhance the impor-
tance of Nishapur, among other things building an elabo-
rately decorated Friday mosque, in which, supposedly,
was a pulpit of the time of Abu MusHm, and rebuilding
the government palace of ^Abdallah ibn Tahir. Like the
Tahirids, the Safiarids made Nishapur their capital.
Contemporary with the Tahirid and SaSarid rulers in
Khurasan was a dynasty in Transoxiana, that of the Sam-
anids. As were the Tahirids, the Samanids were placed in
power by CaHph al-Ma'mun. Of Persian origin, from
Balkh, they began their rule in Samarkand in 819, later
moving their capital to Bukhara. They owed nominal
fealty to the caHph, but, Hke the rulers in Khurasan, they
exercised their independence. Early in the tenth century,
with dramatic success, they greatly increased their do-
main, first of aU by defeating the Safiarids and capturing
Khurasan. Within a short time their domain extended
from India to Iraq.
Although the Samanids' capital remained Bukhara,
there can be no doubt of Nishapur 's increasing prosper-
ity. This is evident from the accounts of contemporary
writers, which in some respects are more precise and
credible than those mentioning the Sasanian city. Ibn
Hauqal speaks of Nishapur in glowing terms, claiming
that no other city in Khurasan was more healthy and pop-
ulous. Both he and Istakhri give impressions of the town,
its chief buildings, the Friday mosque that ^Amr ibn
Layth had embelHshed and the governor's palace that he
had built, and the bazaars and crafts practiced within
them, especiafly the weaving. The city was now an inter-
national trading center with merchants from Iraq and
Egypt frequenting it. It had special bazaars for such cities
as Gurgan, Rayy, and Khwarizm, and it served as an
entrepot for Fars, Sind, and Kerman (Bosworth, The
XXVllI
Introduction
Gkaznavids, p. 150). The writers Istakhri and Maqdisi
(Jackson, From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khay-
yam, p. 252) used Nishapur as a standard against which
other cities were judged.
The reign of the Samanids came to a close, as far as
Nishapur was concerned, around the end of the tenth
century. To the west they had to yield their gains to the
Buwayhids, who, at the height of their power, dominated
the caliphate, to the point of bHnding one cahph (al-
Mustakfi) and appointing his successor (al-Muti^). Fur-
thermore, there was much warring among the Samanids
and the Turkish generals and governors they had used
for their purposes. These disputes led eventually to the
supremacy of the Ghaznavids, who in their early days
had served the Samanids. Mahmud of Ghazna (969-1030),
who had commanded the army in Khurasan on behalf of
the Samanids, with his headquarters in Nishapur, finally
established himself in their stead, and in 999 he was in-
vested with the authority of Caliph al-Qadir, whose name
was restored to the noonday prayers on Fridays. In
Shadyakh, Mas^ud of Ghazna (1030-40) built a palace
with courts and pavilions and another for the use of his
minister, Hasanak, which was later used for oflScial visi-
tors (Bosworth, The Ghaznavidsy p. 161).
From the Ghaznavids, power passed to the Seljuqs in
1037. Of Turkish origin, the Seljuqs had come south, as
other Turks had before them, into the northern parts of
Khurasan. Recognized at first as Ghaznavid auxiliaries,
they soon became stronger than their masters, and in
1038 they seized Nishapur, where Toghril Beg ascended
Mas^ud's throne at Shadyakh and declared himself sultan,
while his brother, Chaghri Beg, installed himself at Merv.
Toghril continued his advance westward and victoriously
entered Baghdad itself in 1055, when he had his title con-
firmed by the caliph. ToghriPs nephew. Alp Arslan, was
governor of Nishapur from 1059 to 1063, fived there from
time to time, and is remembered in the name of the high-
est of the mounds in the ruin fields, Tepe Alp Arslan.
With the advent of the Seljuqs, Nishapur became part
of an enormous empire. The city flourished for a consid-
erable period, and many buildings were erected. One of
the early records of it at this time is by Nasir-i Khusrau,
who visited there in 1046 and speaks of the building of a
madraseh, or religious college (Nasir ibn Khusrau, Rela-
tion du voyage^ p. 6).
In the twelfth century the city sufi'ered major disasters :
earthquakes in 1115 and 1145 and devastation by pillage
and fire at the hands of the Ghuzz Turks in 1153. After
these invaders had been driven ofi* by one of the mame-
lukes of the Seljuq sultan Sanjar, al-Mu'ayyad, the inhabi-
tants were settled in Shadyakh, and Shadyakh now be-
came the town of Nishapur — at least this is the account
of Yaqut, who, however, did not visit Nishapiu* (Barbier
de Meynard, Didionnaire geographique^ pp. 578-582).
Mu'ayyad was in turn slain by the Khwarizm-Shah
Tekish (1172-99), who estabUshed himself in Nishapur
in 1180. A number of coins have survived as evidence of
his power there. After conquering Khurasan, Tekish ex-
tended his domination to Bukhara and Samarkand in
Transoxiana.
Despite these reversals of fortune, Yaqut, in 1216, con-
sidered Nishapur the richest, most flourishing, and popu-
lous city on earth (Barbier de Meynard, Didionnaire geo-
graphique^ p. 580). Five years afterward came the deva-
stating conquest by the Mongols under the leadership of
Toluy, the son of Chingis Khan. All writers agree that
Nishapur and its inhabitants were treated without mercy
and that Shadyakh was completely destroyed. Hamdallah
Mustaufi of Qazvin, writing in 1340, related how in 1232,
eleven years after the Mongol devastation, "Shadyakh"
was laid in ruins by an earthquake, following which a
new city was built in another part of the plain (The Geo-
graphical Part of the Nuzhat-al-Qulub Composed by Hamd-
allah Mustawfi of Qazxvin in 740 [1340\ translated by
G. Le Strange, London, 1919, p. 147).
But there is no point in pursuing further this account of
disasters and rebuildings, for, with the Mongol period, we
are at the close of the history that is covered in the pres-
ent study. No excavations were made in the later ruins.
Description of the Excavations
The excavations were made at a number of places; in
some only briefly and on a small scale, in others on a
larger scale, in an intensive way, for more than one sea-
son. It would have been gratifying if we could have asso-
ciated any of the buildings uncovered with the names
mentioned by the early historians and travelers, some of
whom described the contemporary scene while others in-
corporated descriptions written in the past. However, a
close association between named buildings and excavated
structures cannot be made, and with one exception it has
been felt better not to harden supposition into sugges-
tion. Concerning the various sites excavated, the expedi-
tion was seriously hampered by the proximity, and in
some instances, invasion, of cultivated areas. Under the
law, cultivators could claim damages or the physical res-
titution of the site.
For simple practicality it was necessary to name the
sites. Local names, if such existed, were adopted. Some
of these have historical connotations — Tepe Iskander,
Tepe Alp Arslan, Shadyakh — but even so are misleading,
as even a surface examination, aided by the breaches made
by peasants, indicates. (Of these three sites only Tepe
Introduction
XXIX
FIGURE 2
Alp Arslan was investigated.) Tepe Iskander, for exam-
ple, about a mile east of the present town, would seem to
be the site of a fourteenth-century building. And the area
now known as Shadyakh is probably not the original site
of the suburb. The name of Tepe Alp Arslan, which has
been in use since at least 1897, is plausible in that the
site was inhabited in Seljuq times, as the name suggests.
Other local names were descriptive, such as Sabz Pushan
(Green Mound), although its green was barely noticeable.
Tepe Madraseh suggests that the mound was once the
site of a religious college, and indeed Nishapur was fa-
mous for such estabhshments. The excavation at Tepe
Madraseh did not confirm the presence of a madraseh,
though part of the site was definitely used for religious
purposes. When places were excavated that had no local
name, the expedition gave them a name, usually derived
from location: Village Tepe, Vineyard Tepe, Falaki, and
Qanat Tepe. North Horn and South Horn were named
from the shape of a large mound of which these sites
were the extremities. One excavation was named after
what was probably the site's original function: the
Bazaar.
None of the sites, which will now be described in some
detail, was functioning before the latter part of the eighth
century at the earhest. Most of them were extinguished
when the Mongols ravaged Nishapur and Shadyakh in
1221, though one or two areas continued to a twilight
after that date.
XXX
Introduction
FIGURE 3 A typical dwelling at Sabz Pushan,
Sabz Pushan: The first mound to be thoroughly
cleared, this was an oval area about three miles southeast
of the present town and less than a half a mile north of
the tomb of Muhammad Mahruq. Illicit digging had re-
vealed that the site would be profitable in that carved
plaster wall decoration had been exposed {Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin^ October, 1937, figs. 31-45). Op-
erations continued here throughout three seasons. The
site was found to consist of rather small houses arranged
close together, most of them with small interior courts
(Figure 3). Running across the mound was a small alley.
As some of the houses were important enough to be deco-
rated with carved plaster dadoes, painted walls, and other
architectural details {Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin,
November, 1938, figs. 4-9), they were obviously once oc-
cupied by people of means, perhaps merchants, or less
probably, ofiicials. One of the features of the digging here
was the retrieval of an extraordinary number of coins,
more being found here than in any other comparable area.
Their number would not have been noteworthy had they
been together in a cache, but such was not the case : ex-
cept for two found side by side, all were found singly.
The following Ust, the work of Joseph M. Upton, who
studied the coins at Nishapur, shows that no fewer than
376 coins came from- this small site. Of the total, 90 were
COINS FROM SABZ PUSHAN
Parthian (312 b.C.-a.d. 77) 1
Sasanian (3rd-7th century) 3
1st half 8th century 12
2nd half 8th century 118
8th/9th century 24
Abbasid type (9th/ 10th century) 102
Seijuq (Ilth/I2th century) 3
Tekish (late 12th century) 8
Ilkhan (13th/ 14th century) 3
Post-Ilkhan, including modern 12
in too poor condition to be identified. A single Parthian
coin and three Sasanian ones must be considered unmean-
ingful survivals ; that is, they must have been brought to
Sabz Pushan from some other place.
The great massing of eighth- and early ninth- century
coins at first convinced the expedition that some of the
pottery, glazed and unglazed, should be dated as early as
the eighth century. However, the work at Tepe Madraseh,
a more extensive site that was easier to separate into dif-
ferent periods, suggested caution on this point, particu-
larly as the pottery from the two sites could not be diflFer-
entiated.
Many of the earhest coins from Sabz Pushan were not
at the lowest level, a circumstance pointing to the fact
that early Islamic coins remained in circulation a very
long time. This numismatic peculiarity was also noticed
by George C, Miles in the excavations at Rayy in the
1930s. Despite the presence of the late coins at Sabz
Pushan, the absence, except for a few stray pieces, of
alkaline-glazed pottery here shows clearly that the site
was to all intents and purposes abandoned by the twelfth
century. Quite possibly it did not recover after the earth-
quake of 1145 or after the destruction of the city by the
Ghuzz Turks in 1153.
Tepe Madraseh: The largest and probably the most
important area excavated, this mound was situated some
five hundred yards east-northeast of the tomb of Muham-
mad Mahruq and almost two miles southwest of Tepe Alp
Arslan. The highest part of the mound was near a path
proceeding eastward and leading to a group of kilns.
Close to the path, and undoubtedly extending under it,
were some twelfth-century graves, evidenced by a slab
that belonged to the fifth century of the Hegira (1106-
1202). The final {sin) makes it clear that the century
was the fifth (Figure 4). The highest point on the mound
proved to be the top part of a wall nearly fifteen feet
thick, once a support for a vault that covered a prayer
Introduction
FIGURE 4 Gravestone found at Tepe Madraseh. About
1106-1202.
FIGURE 5 Fragment of a blue alkaline-glazed dish
found at Tepe Madraseh.
xxxi
hall. Open at one end, closed at the other, the hall was
furnished with a mihrab that had undergone various re-
decorations {Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, April,
1942, figs. 12-14). A portion of the floor was dug down
to virgin earth, and in the fill three coins were found,
one of 775/6 and two of about 785, giving a post quern
dating. The hall had remained in use until the twelfth or
thirteenth century. A burned-brick minaret was added
to it in the eleventh or tw^elfth century, breaking into the
previous construction at the side (ibid., fig. 17). Facing
the hall was a deep flight of stairs leading down to an
octagonal chamber through which flowed a qanat. The
latest date of use of this underground source of water was
shown by a sherd of the late thirteenth century, part of a
blue-glazed dish with black underpainting, found there
(Figure 5). This type of vessel is dated by Kiihnel to the
end of the fourteenth century {Islamische Kleinkunst^ p.
102, fig. 66) and by Lane to the second half of the thir-
teenth century {Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 92A).
Abutting the prayer hall behind the qibleh wall were
large rooms including a kitchen {Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin^ April, 1942, fig. 16). Behind the kitchen was
an open square, an area that could not be excavated since
it was under cultivation (ibid., fig. 11, showing prayer
hall at upper right). The east side of the square connected
directly with a field, also under cultivation. On the south
and west sides of the square were large halls behind piers
and corridors with pointed vaults (ibid., fig. 10). The
halls had very substantial walls of sun-dried brick, rang-
ing in thickness from nearly five to six and one-half feet.
On the south side of the square were three mihrabs, two
XXXI 1
Introduction
with rectangular recesses, the other a shallow one of plas-
ter headed by a cinquefoil, a shape also found in the back
of one of the recessed mihrabs (Figure 6). The layout of
the buildings on the three sides of the square was on such
a scale, and some of the piers and walls were so richly
adorned in carved and painted plaster, that this was ob-
viously no ordinary assembly of private dwelUngs but
rather something of an oflicial nature, a palace or a gov-
ernmental center. Since the plan showed a change of ori-
entation, apparently at an early date before the rooms were
subdivided, the hypothesis suggests itself that the build-
ing was started by ^Abdallah ibn Tahir, reconstructed by
'^Amr ibn Layth toward the end of the ninth century, and
then altered by subdivisions in the Samanid period. Were
this identification correct, it would estabhsh the proper
location of the original Shadyakh, although that most im-
portant suburb, which to all intents and purposes became
Nishapur itself, extended much beyond the complex of
buildings contained within the mound. It is unfortunate
that the untimely end of the expedition prevented the
entire clearing of this mound; it was subsequently
wrecked by commercial digging. Except for those adjoin-
ing the prayer hall, the other biaildings excavated by the
expedition were abandoned at some considerable time
before the Mongol invasion. In these abandoned areas
there was an absence of the typical alkaline-glazed wares
of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
COINS FROM TEPE MADRASEH
2nd half 8th century 42
8th/9th century 23
1st half 9th century 9
2nd half 9th century 6
1st half 10th century 6
2nd half 10th century 20
11th century 3
Seljuq (?) (Ilth/I2th century) 1
Tekish (late 12th century) 9
Mongol (13th century) 4
The coins from this site, tabulated by Upton, num-
bered over one hundred and were mostly of the eighth
to tenth century, only seventeen being of later times.
One of the early coins has already been referred to. An-
other, of Harun al-Rashid (763-809), was found on the
floor of the lowest level near a solid pier, suggesting that
no building took place in this area at an earher period,
particularly in view of the fact that only one coin was
found of the first half of the eighth century.
A direct connection between building and pottery was
FIGURE 7 "Ingots" of brownish raw clay excavated at
Tepe Madraseh.
established when two crude buflP ware bowls (mentioned
at Group 1, 4) were found embedded in one of the major
walls. The proximity of a kiln connection was suspected
when, in a deep pit, hundreds of "ingots" of well-levi-
gated clay were found (Figure 7). Shaped hke the handle-
bar grip of a bicycle, they measure three and a half inches
long. However, no spurs, wasters, or other debris asso-
ciated with the production of kilns were discovered.
There remained the possibiHty that these were pieces of
edible clay, for which Khurasan was famous, or a supply
intended for sealing purposes.
Qanat Tepe: This small moxmd, which was com-
pletely cleared, was a narrow strip about seventy yards
long, disappearing under a path close to the west side of
Tepe Alp Arslan. The path led to the village of Shahabad.
The site had been dug commercially before 1935, and the
presence of some visible painted plaster decoration sug-
gested the desirabiUty of excavation. The process was
encouraged by the headman of the adjoining village of
Turbatabad, close to Tepe Alp Arslan on the northwest
side, who was also the local landlord. He had acquired
a large hoard of Samanid silver coins and claimed that
they had been found in the vicinity.
The upper level of the mound was in ruinous condi-
tion. Nevertheless, one small area proved to have been
the site of kilns for the production of a special type of
unglazed vessel, the sphero-conical bottle (Group 12,
113-117). Also found were lumps of transparent glass or
glaze, spurs, and suchlike kiln debris, including wasters
of gritty-bodied alkaline-glazed ware, some of these of
fine quaUty. The kilns that produced this material were
not found, but they were undoubtedly not far away. Per-
haps they lay beneath the path or beyond it, and thus
Introduction
XXXlll
were not excavated, or perhaps they had been destroyed
before 1935.
As at Sabz Pushan, the site was covered with small
dwellings. One room had a rectangular recessed prayer
niche flanked by colonnettes (Figure 8); this replaced, at
a liigher level, an earlier niche that had been destroyed
{Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ April, 1942, fig. 5).
Another structure was a bathhouse with painted wall
decorations (ibid., fig. 6). There was also, rising from the
lowest level, a circular bastion of sun-dried brick. This
was dug to its foundation, and here was found a coin of
753-766, just as in the fill below the lowest floor of the
prayer hall at Tepe Madraseh. The coins from Qanat
Tepe, according to Upton's tabulation, showed three
Sasanian examples, one found at the deep level, the others
found at high levels. All three must be considered keep-
sakes, even the one from the deep level, in view of the
Islamic coin also found here. Of the rest of the coins
found, most are of the eighth or eighth/ninth century.
After the Ghaznavid period — eleventh century — there
are but single examples.
Upton examined the hoard of 227 silver coins owned
by the headman of Turbatabad and found that it con-
tained 114 of Nuh ibn Mansur (976-997), of which 64
were minted in Nishapur, Bukhara being a poor second.
Most of the rest of the coins were Buwayhid, some (of
Rukn-ad-Dawla, 944-977) minted in Nishapur.
Most of the pottery found in the Qanat Tepe was
glazed earthenware. The fact that kilns near one end of
the mound had produced alkaline-glazed pottery indi-
cated that the mound had still been inhabited in the
twelfth century. It may be noted, however, that kilns are
always built on the outer edges of a town because of the
iU-smeUing smoke they produce.
COINS FKOM QANAT TEPE
Sasanian (3rd— 7th century) 3
1st half 8th century 4
2nd half 8th century 72
8th/9th century 31
1st half 9th century 13
2nd half 9th century 1
1st half 10th century 1
2nd half 10th century 12
Ghaznavid (llth century) 8
Seljuq (?) (Ilth/I2th century) 1
Tekish (late 12th century) 1
Mongol (13th century) 1
Village Tepe: Named by the expedition for its proxim-
ity to a small viUage on the old road to the tomb of Mu-
hammad Mahruq, this small, elongated mound (Figure 9)
was composed of the remains of houses of no great size.
Like those of Sabz Pushan, they had undergone many
COINS FROM VILLAGE TEPE
1st half 8th century 11
2nd half 8th century 5
1st half 9th century 5
10th century 3
Tekish (late 12th century) 3
Mongol (13th century) 2
XXXIV
Introduction
changes in the form of Uttle additions and small altera-
tions. In addition, the site was riddled with wells, pits,
and sinkaways, making any clear-cut stratification diffi-
cult. The occupation of the site had continued in the
Seljuq period. This time span is made clear by the pot-
tery found, which closely resembles that of Sabz Pushan.
However, a considerable quantity of alkaline-glazed ware
was found in the upper level, indicating that the site,
unlike Sabz Pushan, was fully occupied until the Mongol
invasion. It probably survived to a limited extent after
that event.
Falaki: This site, the northwestern tip of an exten-
sive mound (Figure 10), some of which was irrigated and
under cultivation, was partially cleared at the request of
the governor of Nishapur, who was building a teahouse
and a circular garden {falaki) on a newly made road lead-
ing to the tombs of Omar Khayyam and Muhammad
Mahruq. The dig here was of brief duration and too hur-
ried to give a true perspective of the course of events. The
pottery indicated that the site was occupied longer than
Sabz Pushan and that it flourished at least until the Mon-
gol invasion and perhaps to some extent even later. The
coins found here, though few in number, appear to con-
firm this.
At the end of the mound in which the expedition's site
was located was a high mound known locally as Tepe
Ahangiran. This was not excavated. It has reportedly
been completely destroyed since 1947.
COINS FROM FALAKI
2nd half 8th century 1
Tekish (late 12th century) 5
2nd half 13th century 1
14th century 2
Modern 1
FIGURE 10
Falaki under excavation.
Introduction
XXXV
South Horn: Southeast of Falaki the principal mound
forms a large crescent, and its tips were named by the ex-
pedition North Horn and South Horn (Figure 11). The
sondage at North Horn was soon abandoned as unprofit-
able since only the meanest kind of ware was recovered
there. At the South Horn the results were more fruitful,
even though no major digging was done there. Near the
top were found signs of late twelfth- or early thirteenth-
century occupancy, notably a blue-glazed tile {Metropoli-
tan Museum of Art Bulletin, October, 1937, fig. 22) and
part of a Kashan luster tile. At the edge of the site were
the obvious remains of a pottery shop that speciahzed in
the manufacture of molded ware. The late occupancy of
South Horn was supported by the coins found. These
were predominantly Tekish (1172-99) — that is, after the
fired, indicating that the site had been hurriedly aban-
doned. These were late pieces, of the twelfth or early
thirteenth century, suggesting that the terminal date was
either the Mongol invasion, or, more probably, the earth-
quake of 1280.
COINS FROM THE KILN NEAR
SABZ PUSHAN
2nd half 8th century 3
Tekish (late 12th century) 13
Post-1 2th century 6
FIGURE 1 1
North Horn (left) and South Horn
being dug by the Museum
expedition.
COINS FROM SOUTH HORN
2nd half 8th century 4
8th/9th century 2
Tekish (late 12th century) 25
Mongol (13th century) 5
removal of the people of "Nishapur" to "Shady akh."
These findings at South Horn presented a striking con-
trast to those at Sabz Pushan, less than a mile away.
Kiln near Sabz Pushan: A sondage made southeast of
the South Horn, at the edge of a large, irregular mound
that included both the "horns," disclosed a kiln site.
Here was found all the detritus associated with the manu-
facture of unglazed earthenware vessels. In addition
there were some mold-made pieces that had never been
Vineyard Tepe: So named by the expedition, this
mound lay a few hundred yards northeast of the tomb of
Muhammad Mahruq and a similar distance northwest of
Tepe Madraseh. It proved difficult to dig because of the
great furrows that had been dug in it for the cultivation
of grapevines. The area excavated was so restricted that
a fuU understanding of the buildings contained within it
could not be gained. It was evident nevertheless that they
had been important. The area contained a small alley
carefully plastered with white stucco, with raised pave-
ments at the sides, that wound between buildings of im-
pressively substantial construction (Figure 12), not un-
hke some at Tepe Madraseh. The walls of sun-dried
brick, from six to nine feet thick, were originally covered
with thin layers of white plaster or with carved plaster.
One room with carved plaster had been domed, and an-
other, which had later been divided, had outline paint-
ings in black of a horseman {Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin, April, 1942, figs. 45, 46).
XXXVl
Introduction
FIGURE 12 The alley excavated at Vineyard Tepe.
The coins found there were few: six of the second half
of the eighth century or slightly later, one of the first half
of the ninth century, and seven of the first half of the
tenth century. It would appear that the buildings were
COINS FROM VINEYARD TEPE
2nd half 8th century
3
8th/9th century
3
1st half 9th century
1
1st half 10th century
7
contemporary with those of Sabz Pushan and the greater
part of Tepe Madraseh and, like them, were no longer in
use by the latter part of the twelfth century. There were
definite signs of damage by earthquake, including a skele-
ton found beneath a collapsed wall and another found in a
doorway, a favored place of refuge for Persians during
quakes. It seems probable that these buildings were de-
stroyed in the earthquake of 1145, Unglazed and lead-
glazed pottery were found in this site. No alkaline-glazed
pieces were found, in line with the closing date suggested
above.
Kilns by Omar Khayyam: Not far from the Vineyard
Tepe and close to the enclosing waU of the garden sur-
rounding the tomb of Muhammad Mahruq and the tomb
said to be that of Omar Khayyam the expedition found
signs of ancient kilns. These consisted of fragments and
wasters of alkaUne-glazed ware, probably of the twelfth
century and perhaps of the thirteenth. No excavations
were made here. A few pieces picked up from the surface
are designated either as coming from the kilns by Omar
Khayyam or from the vicinity of Omar Khayyam. A sherd
from the vicinity was probably brought to the site from
elsewhere.
Bazaar Tepe: This site was named from the sugges-
tion made by Sykes that a series of mounds forming a
cross correspond to two lines of shops that Hned streets
crossing at right angles (Sykes, The GeographicalJournal,
XXXVII, p. 157). Although this suggestion is probably
correct, no material evidence was found to confirm it.
The expedition was able to clear only a small part of the
upper level and to gain some entry to the lower levels by
means of the wells and sinkaways. That there was an early
period here was clear, in part from a deep hole presuma-
bly made by looters, in part from the character of the ce-
ramic finds, and in part from recovered coins. These last
consisted of four of the second half of the eighth century,
one of the second half of the tenth century, and one of
the Khwarizm-Shah Tekish (1172-99). No coins of later
date were found.
COINS FROM BAZAAR TEPE
2nd half 8th century 4
2nd half 10th century 1
Tekish (late 12th century) 1
The bulk of the pottery found in the cleared upper
level was obviously of a late period. Much of it was un-
glazed, including many sherds of molded ware. There
was a greater proportion of this particular unglazed ware
here than in any other site except the kiln areas by Tepe
Ahangiran and Sabz Pushan.
Everything points to the Bazaar Tepe's having been
abandoned in 1221 at latest— the time of the Mongol in-
vasion. It may even have been abandoned earlier, after
the destruction by the Ghuzz Turks in 1153.
Minor sondage: In the catalogue this identifies a few
pieces of pottery of the eleventh and twelfth centuries
Introduction
XXXVll
FIGURE 13
Tepe Alp Arslan before excavation.
found in the clearing of a very small protuberance be-
tween the East Kilns and the Bazaar Tepe. Little of in-
terest was found here except for the pottery and some
carved plaster cornices of the twelfth century.
coin of the eighth or ninth century was found at the bot-
tom level, and a Samanid coin (tenth century) was found
at the top level. Neither in the high mound nor in the
apron were any Sasanian pottery sherds found.
Tepe Alp Arslan: Large-scale excavations were not
possible here, but preliminary probmgs on this high
mound (Figure 13) and on the apron to the south of it
suggested that the mound was artificially made and not,
like the lower mounds, an accumulation of the debris of
centuries. Examination of the deep cuts made in the
mound by the local peasants confirmed this. The lower
mound, forming the apron, was evidently occupied in the
early ninth century, but a pit dug down to virgin soil
yielded no evidence that it was occupied in the Sasanian
period or in the century following the Arab conquest. A
FIGURE 14
Ead Kilns: One of the most rewarding sondages was
made in an area about a mile and a quarter east of the
tomb of Muhammad Mahruq and about the same distance
south of Tepe Alp Arslan. The nature of the site was
obvious before excavation: the lower part of the dome of
a kiln was visible, as were fragments of wasters, spurs,
and other kiln material. In all, before the closing of the
Museum's excavations, three kilns were excavated here.
Further digging was evidently done here later, and as a
result a few wasters reputedly and probably from this
area are now in the Muze Iran Bastan.
East Kilns. The firing chamber
skirted by a wide ledge.
Introduction
xxxix
Although the kihis excavated by the expedition were
not all of the same size, they had several details in com-
mon. Each had a central circular pit — the firing chamber
— ^with a wide ledge extending from its edge to the spring-
ing of the brick dome (Figure 14). Each kiln was fired
through an ovoid hole (Figure 15), and two of the kilns
had these holes facing each other at either end of a short
trench (Figure 16). The three domes were too ruined to
reveal how access was gained to stack and empty the
kilns ; however, the method of stacking within the kilns
was clear. The wares were placed on tapered clay batons,
the smaller ends of which were fitted into circular holes
present in some of the bricks of the dome. In the smallest
kiln there was one ring of these baton holes around the
wall; in the largest kiln there were three rings (Figure 17).
The domes of the kilns were circular. By contrast, the
kilns that today produce the horse-collar-shaped rings
that line Nishapur's qanats have elongated domes (Fig-
ure 18).
In the largest of the excavated kilns part of the floor of
the firing chamber — tKe central pit — was raised to form
a low platform. This and the rest of the floor were cov-
ered with ash and burnt waster fragments of alkaline-
glazed ware. The kiln also had several well-Hke shafts that
went down from the flat ledge directly below the spring-
ing of the dome. These apparently opened into the firing
chamber at times ; at other times they were closed oS* by
patching (Figure 19). These shafts also descended below
the floor level of the firing chamber ; why this was so is not
known. In these shafts, at a low level, were fragments of
lead-glazed earthenware, including two wasters, one of
black on white ware (Group 3, 88), the other of ware
FIGURE 19 The largest kiln, with a shaftway in its
ledge. Above the lower opening is
evidence of brick patching.
xl
Introduction
decorated with yellow-staining black {Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art Bulletin^ November, 1961, p. 113, fig. 20).
No traces of lead-glazed pottery were found within the
kiln itself. It was clear, therefore, that the kilns that pro-
duced the earlier pottery had either been destroyed when
the later ones were erected, or they were not within the
excavated area. The point could not be determined since
it was not possible, because of time shortage, to dig down
to virgin soil.
In one of the shafts descending from the ledge of the
large kiln were found three silver coins : one of Mas^ud I,
the Ghaznavid who ruled from 1031 to 1041, and two of
the caliph al-Qasim (1031-74). These confirm that this
kiln for the manufacture of alkaline-glazed ware was op-
erating after the first quarter of the eleventh century.
That none of the three kilns functioned after the Mongol
destruction of Nishapur is clear, since no pottery of that
time was found anywhere in the vicinity. In view of the
site's considerable distance from the Nishapur that was
rebuilt after 1221, its final abandonment is under-
standable.
The area of the East Kilns provided information that
alkaline-glazed molded and pierced wares of high quahty
were manufactured in Nishapur, and that the city was
not dependent on importations of the ware from Kashan
except for luster.
Exact provenance unknown: Pieces so marked in the
catalogue are those that were brought to the expedition
by the workmen and other local peasants. All of them
can without doubt be ascribed to Nishapur.
The Finds : Plan of Presentation
In all of the areas systematically excavated great quan-
tities of glazed and unglazed earthenware were recovered
— the enduring evidence of a human occupation that ex-
isted for a millennitun. All these vessels, whether found
whole or in fragments, had once been used in Nishapur,
and most of them had been manufactured there. They are
presented here in twelve groups. The lead-glazed wares
appear first, with the three numerically most important
groups first of all: the buff ware (so called from its pre-
vailing color), a type of underglaze slip-painted ware; the
color-splashed ware, a large and easily distinguished group
with no slip-painting; and the black on white ware. The
latter, like the buff ware, is a slip-painted ware covered
vnth a transparent lead glaze. So, too, are the foiurth and
fifth groups, the polychrome on white ware and the ware
with colored engobe, differing from the buff ware and
the black on white ware most obviously in their color
schemes. The sixth and seventh groups contain wares
with opaque lead glazes, one an opaque white glaze, the
other an opaque yellow glaze. The ware discussed in
Group 8 is in a sense classifiable as polychrome on white,
but is distinctive in its inclusion of a yellow-staining
black pigment; the ware bears a possible relationship to
Group 6. In Group 9 are vessels of one color alone. In
Group 10 are found the remains of imported Chinese
pieces. Alkaline-glazed wares are presented as the last of
the glazed groups; technically different from all the pre-
ceding, these wares were made only toward the end of
the period covered in this study. Last of aU, as Group 12,
the unglazed wares are presented. This sequence of
groups is not intended to imply a development in time,
for generally speaking, with the exception of the late
alkaline-glazed ware, the production of certain types of
all these wares, in Nishapur and elsewhere, coexisted, at
least in the tenth century.
In addition to its technical peculiarties, each of the
groups has its particular decorative motifs. Pieces of am-
biguous nature and uncertain classification will be found
in the catalogue, particularly in Groups 4, 6, and 8, and
in a few cases, generally where disintegration has caused
partial loss of design or of color, a piece may have been
placed in the wrong group; all such instances are noted
in the accompanying text. In an even smaller number of
cases a piece of one ware has been deliberately shown in
another group, the purpose being to demonstrate the
closeness of a relationship. These few exceptions aside,
it may be said that the individuality of the designs is so
marked that a full acquaintance with the pottery of Nish-
apur usually enables one to classify authentic examples of
it from no more than a black-and-white photograph.
In many cases it is difiicult to judge the origin of the
pieces presented here — that is, whether they were made
in Nishapur or not. Our knowledge concerning the ex-
tent of export and import in the eastern areas is still far
from what it might be.
As noted earKer, the number of vessels found by the
expedition, represented in the main by fragments, but
including many complete and nearly complete pieces, was
too great to warrant publication of the whole. Even the
preservation of the whole was deemed unnecessary after
enough material had been accumulated to give both mu-
seums a comprehensive collection of sherds for study
purposes. Accordingly, a few of the pieces illustrated in
this book were discarded in the field as being of second-
ary interest. Furthermore, some types of vessels that were
found in quantity are represented in the halftone illustra-
tions by only a single example. Although the ratio of
common and rare pieces may thus mislead one in the il-
lustrations, the catalogue comments will reveal the
proper relationships.
The sequence within each group reflects at least two
considerations : subgroups related in shape, technical fea-
Introduction
xli
tures, or decoration are shown together as much as possi-
ble, and all the vessels or sherds illustrated on any one
page are reproduced at the same scale — a procedure
deemed valuable even though it sometimes leads to some-
what arbitrary juxtapositions. What the sequence does
not attempt to do is show a chronological order. Just as
the twelve groups are generally contemporary, so the
pieces within each group can be presented only generally.
Precision of dating is simply not possible in this pottery.
When a chronological sequence is clearly to be seen, as in
some of the unglazed pottery, this is pointed out.
The Finds: General Comments
Just as Nishapur consisted of various suburbs, some
undoubtedly contiguous, some others separated, so its
population included diverse elements. The brief history
given earHer shows that Nishapur was often under foreign
domination, commencing in a major way, so far as this
study is concerned, with the invasion of an Arab army,
introducing Islam, in the seventh century. Subsequently
Nishapur was dominated by Turks of various stocks, and,
at the end of the period covered here, by the Mongols. At
various times the governor of the city would be an Iranian
serving Arab or other masters, or a Turk serving Turkish
or other rules. At all times the population was a mixed
one, even without considering the many merchants who
came and went, and it subscribed to various religions.
The Muhammadans alone were divided into violently hos-
tile sects. As noted earlier, there were Zoroastrians as well
as Nestorian Christians here during the Sasanian period.
The presence of Christians in the Islamic period is re-
flected in at least one of the wares presented in this book
(Group 1, 71, 72). A bowl found after the close of the ex-
cavations, now in the Muze Iran Bastan, reveals clearly
that the Christians of Nishapur maintained close Hnks
with the church in Syria: it is adorned not only with
crosses but with inscriptions in Syriac (Wilkinson in
Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens, p. 82, fig. 4). That the
Christians as well as the Muhammadans were afiected by
the introduction of the Arabic language is to be seen in
the vessels decorated with such a word as barakeh (bless-
ing), which is not restricted to any one religion. From
historical sources we know that there were Jews in the
city, but here our ceramic evidence is either nonexistent
or inconclusive, resting wholly on the Hebrew-Uke aspect
of the inscriptions on two glazed vessels of the twelfth
century (Group 11, 21, 24). The presence of Muslims is
of course abundantly clear in the recovered pottery. It is
a remarkable fact that the inscriptions on the pottery
found by the expedition are always in Arabic rather than
Persian. This point is discussed by L. Volov {Ars Orient-
alls^ VI, 1966, pp. 107-133). Despite the strong Iranian
renaissance in hterature at this time, it is clear that in
Nishapur none of this is revealed in epigraphical ceramic
decoration. Not until the late twelfth century did Persian
inscriptions appear, and none of these were found in the
excavations.
Particular characteristics of personal appearance are
bound to be of interest in any artistic representation of
the human form; they are discussed in detail in the com-
mentary on the individual pieces. Here it may be noted
that, although the crudity of the drawing on both the
glazed and unglazed wares limits the amount of informa-
tion, the physical type repeatedly portrayed is entirely
difi"erent from that seen in Seljuq, let alone Mongol, art.
The foreheads of the Nishapur faces are broad, the cheeks
almost cavernous, the jaws jutting. One sees no moon faces
with full cheeks and narrow eyes such as are portrayed in
Seljuq carved stucco and plaster {Islamische Kunst: Aus-
stellung des Museums fUr Islamische Kunst, Berlin, n.d.,
pis. 23, 24; Dimand, Handbook, fig. 55) and in luster and
minai pottery of the late twelfth century (Lane, Early Is-
lamic Pottery^ pis. 52 B, 55 B; Grube, Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art Bulletin, February, 1965, pp. 224, 225, figs.
30, 31) and early thirteenth century (Lane, op. cit., pis.
62, 63 A, 63 B, 72 A). Perhaps more surprising is the
difference between the Nishapur faces and those that
appear on contemporary pottery made elsewhere in the
Islamic world, namely tenth-century luster ware (Pope,
Survey^ V, pis. 577, 579 A, B; Medieval Near Eastern
Ceramics, p. 10, fig. 2).
Although the decoration of pottery may tell us only a
httle about the people who used it, the form of a vessel is
directly related to its function. Even when elaborated,
the underlying form is conditioned by its use. As a mod-
ern illustration, a soup plate is deep and requires the use
of a spoon, so it differs in shape from a soup cup, from
which one can either spoon the soup or drink it directly,
usually with the assistance of a handle on either side of
the cup.
In Nishapur, as generally throughout the lands of
Islam, much food was eaten from small bowls and dishes
into which the fingers of the right hand were dipped.
Many of these vessels were made for communal use and
are therefore of large size. The flat platter or plate of
various sizes with shallow well and wide horizontal rim
appears in Nishapur in wares of the ninth and tenth cen-
turies but was not common. The particular function of
this rim escapes us today, but it served in many instances
as the place to inscribe a moral maxim or good wishes to
the owner. Certain innovations in ceramic forms came in
with the Arabs, other forms reflect older traditions. The
deep vessel with an open top and a pipelike spout for
pouring, so common in Sasanian times, dies out com-
pletely. Its place is taken by a deep bowl with an open
xlii
Introduction
spout furnished with a strap across it, thus continuing
the line of the rim to make a complete circle.
On the other hand, vessels specially made for the serv-
ing of nuts and sweetmeats during the long preliminaries
to a major meal — an assembly of small bowls — reflect a
custom going back to Sasanian times and continuing into
the eighth century, as is proven by the excavations at
Ramla {Ramla Excavations^ see under glazed pottery,
fig. 2).
Present evidence suggests that no glazed wares were
made anywhere on the high plateau of Iran during the
Sasanian period, although some glazed pieces were im-
ported to this region — presumably from Mesopotamia
(Iraq) and perhaps from the adjoining plain at the head
of the Persian Gulf. None of the green blue-glazed wares
found at Ctesiphon and Susa, which were certainly made
in Iraq, and most probably at Susa, were found in Nish-
apur.
It is not possible to relate the pottery presented in this
study to any made in Nishapur before the Abbasid pe-
riod, for the simple reason that no pre-Abbasid pottery
was found. Beginning with the Abbasid period, however,
it will be seen that developments in Nishapur were not
isolated from ceramic history elsewhere in the Islamic
world. It may be noted that, a few fragments excepted,
no glazed pottery was found in the fortress at Qasr-i-abu
Nasr either, which was occupied, judging from coins of
the Islamic period in Sasanian form, into the eighth cen-
tury. This underscores the point being made: that the
glazed production excavated at Nishapur is all of the
ninth century and later. Because Nishapur, in the early
days of Islam, was a military rather than a cultural center,
it would seem that the city had little to do with initiating
the manufacture of glazed pottery on the main plateau of
Iran in the Islamic period. The indications are that there
was great influence from Iraq, where the caliphate was
seated, from the middle of the eighth century. During
this time, and throughout the ninth century, Iraq was in
closer touch with Nishapur than was the case later. There
were also influences from Transoxiana and probably from
other parts of Khurasan, but these came to full flower in
the late ninth and especially the tenth century. Subse-
quently there was a major ceramic regrouping as Nisha-
pur became part of the great Seljuq empire and the tech-
niques were introduced from the west of Nishapur rather
than from the east. Baghdad, insofar as ceramic influences
were concerned, had by that time dropped out of the pic-
ture entirely. During the time of the great Seljuqs in the
eleventh century there were still ties with Transoxiana in
the lead-glazed wares, but with the introduction of alka-
line-glazed wares Iran became a great center of design on
its own, with Nishapur in the running very briefly, then
dropping out for the two cities of Rayy and Kashan — of
which only the former could claim even a sHght pohtical
importance.
Further information in regard to styles and influences
will be found in the introductory chapters of the various
groups into which the wares have been divided.
The photographs of all the pieces indicated as being in
the Muze Iran Bastan (referred to in the catalogue as the
Teheran museum, or MIB) and the majority of those now
in The MetropoUtan Museum of Art (MMA) were taken
in the field by the author. The restored material and some
other pieces in the Metropolitan were photographed by
the late Edward Milla. The color photographs were made
by Wilham F. Pons. Most illustrations of the pottery were
laid out by Jean Leonard and the late Walter Hauser,
who undertook the exacting task of ensuring that all the
figures on one plate were in the same scale. The drawings
of shapes, profiles, sections, and design motifs are the
work of the present writer, with the exception of some
by Walter Hauser.
In view of the resemblances among certain Nishapur
pieces and those discovered at Afrasiyab (Samarkand),
I reproduce in the Appendix a group of photographs
taken early in this century, which records a large collec-
tion of Afrasiyab vessels while it was still in the storeroom
of the excavator, M. V. Stoliarov. In the period between
the two world wars Ernst Cohn-Wiener visited Uzbeki-
stan and made photographs of pottery there. These pho-
tographs, owned by the Metropolitan, are also reproduced
in the Appendix to show some of the differences between
the decoration of vessels made in Afrasiyab and Tashkent.
Sincere thanks are given to G. A. Pugachenkova for
her valuable help to me as I compared the pottery of
Nishapur with that of Merv and Afrasiyab, by sending
me publications on excavations in those areas and by
answering particular questions in regard to such rela-
tionships. Thanks are also due Leon Wilson for his in-
valuable help in organizing and editing this book in such
a way that a task was made a pleasure. The finishing
touches to his work were assiduously made by Jean
Crocker and Polly Cone. The members of the Islamic
Department at the Metropolitan cheerfully answered in-
numerable questions, and its chairman, Richard Etting-
hausen, graciously gave me the run of the storeroom and
helped in every possible way. In London the late Arthur
Lane, and R. J. Charleston of the Victoria and Albert
Museum, and Basil Gray and Ralph Pinder- Wilson of
The British Museum allowed me to examine the sherds in
their care and helpfully discussed various problems with
me. In Berlin similar services were rendered by the late
Kurt Erdmann, Johanna Zick, and Volkmar Enderlein.
Finally, my gratitude goes to my wife, Irma, for having
given untold hours of her patience and help to me and
my Nishapur project.
Catalogue
1
Buff Ware
Grenerally having a buflFbody and decoration painted in
black, yellow, and green, followed by the application of a
lead glaze, this ware constituted, numerically, one of the
largest groups found. Until it was discovered in Nishapur
in 1935, similar ware had not come to light elsewhere.
One exception to this statement may be made. Among the
thousands of pottery fragments from Afrasiyab in the Is-
lamisches Museum, BerHn, known as a group since the
early 1900s, there are three pieces of bujBFware, These had
remained unnoticed until recently, when Dr. Enderlein of
the Islamisches Museum examined them. All three have
designs of the type called, in the present publication, in-
animate. One is in poor condition, its design almost oblit-
erated. The two in better condition were probably im-
ported from Nishapur, for, although they are not exactly
like any examples excavated in Nishapur in the 1930s,
they are not markedly diflFerent. None of these pieces is
a waster.
After the termination of the Museum's field work, buff
ware was found at other sites. In 1947 the late Mehdi
Bahrami of the University of Teheran showed me buff
fragments that had come, he said, from Gurgan, that
much-robbed site northwest of Nishapur. Bahrami's ma-
terial, other than some alkaline-glazed ware, has not been
pubKshed, but his assertion was corroborated in 1963 by
means of a collection of sherds picked up from the surface
at Gurgan by Vaughn E. Crawford of the MetropoHtan
Museum. The stylistic evidence of these sherds is that
most of the vessels were imported from Nishapur. More
recently, in 1967/68, many fragments of the ware were
found at Qumis, between Semnan and Shahrud, to the
west of Nishapur ; the decoration of most of them is of the
later inanimate type represented in the Nishapur group
by 41-46.
In the late 1950s buff ware was found at Merv, north-
east of Nishapur, by an expedition of the Soviet Republic
of South Turkmenistan (Masson, Trudy^ II, p. 51, fig. 43;
Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 249, fig. 17). The Merv buff ware,
retrieved from the tenth-century level, differs in style
from that of Nishapur but is closely related to it. In con-
trast to the picture at Gurgan, it appears that some of the
buff pottery found at Merv was made there. Contrary to
the case in Nishapur, the Parthian and Sasanian sites at
Merv were discovered and excavated. Whether Nishapur
paralleled Merv in the manufacture of this earlier pottery
we do not know. A two-handled pottery vase found at
Merv, dated to the late fifth or sixth century, decorated
with seated male and female figures (Pugachenkova, Art
of Turkmenistan^ fig. 67), is closer in style to Sasanian
metal pieces rather than — as one might expect — to the
later Merv and Nishapur buff ware. However, this vase
suggests that the animate buff ware of Khurasan was, if
not a continuation, at least a rebirth of a tradition aheady
there. In any case, it is clear that the ware originated in
Khurasan and that it owed nothing, at least in its initial
stages, to Iraq or to the other Islamic countries of the
west — or to any ceramic centers of China.
In its decorative use of birds, animals, and human be-
ings the buff ware is not unique, for such elements ap-
peared in contemporary luster ware, both of Iraq and
Egypt. The style of the buff ware is its own, however,
even though it may be possible to see in various details re-
lationships to the styles of other works of art and to the
products of other ceramic centers. The nonrepresenta-
tional forms that appear in the later buff ware form part
of a widespread fashion in Islamic pottery in that they
have a kind of vermicular pattern as a background to the
main elements of the design — a fashion that extended
from Syria and Egypt to Transoxiana and that survived
the change from lead-glazed ware to alkaHne-glazed ware
(Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pis. 57B, 77B).
With Nishapur as the chief place of production, the
buff ware seems to have been made not before the ninth
century, and its manufacture, so far as can be determined,
died out in the eleventh century.
Here it becomes necessary to speak of the buff ware
pieces that have appeared plentifully in the antiquities
market in the period since 1940. Some of these come from
imknown or uncertifiable sources; some have been repre-
sented as coming from Nishapur. The attribution is un-
doubtedly correct in some cases; in others it is not. A
number of these vessels were seen in the large exhibition
3
4
Buff Ware
Seven Thousand Years of Iranian Art that opened in Paris
in 1961 and afterward, on a reduced scale, visited a num-
ber of European and American cities. It will be noticed
that some of the ■'^Niishapur'' buff ware pieces now in
public and private collections differ markedly in color and
style from the group presented in the following pages.
The fact that not even fragments Uke these pieces were
discovered by the Metropolitan's expedition indicates that
another source has been tapped. This is probably not far
from Nishapur; perhaps Baihaq (present-day Sabzewar)
or Jovain. It is possible, of course, though unlikely, that a
few of the untypical "Nishapur" examples were actually
found there, since it is a common experience that excep-
tional pieces continue to appear during excavations, even
late in the operation. However, they usually do so in less-
ening numbers. Finally, it may be remarked that some of
the pieces ^"^found" since 1940 and attributed to Nishapur
are forgeries.
In Nishapur the ware was made in every degree of qual-
ity from well-turned and elaborately decorated pieces to
crudely painted kitchen utensils. Whatever the workman-
ship, the typical color of body and surface is buff. Some-
times the color of the surface is light enough to be described
as bone colored, in which case an engobe is probably
present as a ground for the painted decoration. When the
surface is darker, more truly buff, the decoration is usu-
ally painted directly on the water-smoothed surface. The
basic design is painted in a pigment that fires to a near
black. Because of the presence of manganese, this black
often has a purple cast. Sometimes it is a purplish brown.
The colors most often added are yellow and green. The
yellow, usually intense, is the color of EngUsh mustard.
Sometimes it has a green tinge. Because it contains tin
oxide, it is opaque, and as the blobs of this color are ap-
pUed freely, not to say carelessly, they often overlap and
obscure the black Hues. The green, derived from a copper
base, is transparent when thinly applied. It becomes al-
most black when much copper is present, at which stage
it also obscures the painted design. This partial obscura-
tion, softening the strongly drawn outlines, is not always
unpleasing. Incidentally, the same green is used in the
color-splashed ware of Nishapur. The two yellows used
in the color-splashed ware, on the other hand, are unlike
the buff ware yellow. A third color, a brick red sKp, is
used occasionally, always in a minor role.
The glaze, which has a high content of lead, often has a
green tinge. It covers the inside and the outside of the
bowls and dishes and in many examples the base as well.
The glaze rarely flakes off, probably for the reason that
there is usually no engobe beneath it, or, if there is an
engobe, it is applied thinly. (By contrast, in the black on
white ware, with its thick engobe, the flaking of the glaze
is frequent.) When the glaze has eroded — often the case —
the black drawing and the blobs of yellow remain in such
fresh condition it is hard to believe that glaze ever cov-
ered them. Such pieces may suggest that they were fired
twice, once for the decoration and again for the glaze, but
in fact, Kke all the other glazed earthenwares of Nishapur,
they were fired only once. Unlike the yellow, which con-
tains much clay and remains as an impasto on the surface,
the copper base of the green fuses with the glaze, and
when the glaze disappears, the green disappears with it,
usually leaving a telltale gray area on the surface.
The decoration ordinarily covers the entire inside sur-
face of a bowl or dish, in contrast to the treatment in cer-
tain other Nishapur wares (the black on white and tlie
opaque white, for example), in which the decoration is
limited and selectively placed. This is interesting in that
it proves two fundamentally different styles were popular
in Nishapur at the same time.
The decoration of the buff ware falls into two main
categories, one without animate forms, and one in which
bird, animal, and human figures appear. The differentia-
tion extends to the subsidiary decoration, that filling the
spaces of the inanimate designs usually consisting of cross-
hatchings, checkerings, and the like, and that filling the
spaces of the animate designs consisting of rosettes, dotted
circles, and various intricate small patterns. Generally it
may be said that the backgrounds of the animate pieces
are more complex than those of the inanimate. The line
between the inanimate and animate designs cannot in all
cases be firmly drawn. Still, considering the great variety
of the designs and the large number of vessels excavated,
the hybrid pieces are surprisingly few.
Most of the vessels of the inanimate group, obviously
made to sell cheaply, are of cruder manufacture than the
animate. Strongly potted and ofpractical shape, they have
thick, steep, slightly convex walls and heavy bases, either
flat or slightly concave. The rims generally continue the
line of the wall; only exceptionally do they extend later-
ally (35, 40). The decoration on the exterior is simple and
remarkably standardized, usually consisting either of a
series of claw-shaped strokes of pigment (3) or a series of
vertical strokes contained in V-shapes (36). These two
decorations, peculiar to the inanimate group, are not
found on any other wares made in Nishapur.
Unlike the exterior decorations, the treatment of the
interiors ranges from simple to complex. Inasmuch as
pieces with simple design and elaborate design were
found together, it is clear that simplicity of itself does not
indicate an earlier date but simply a less ambitious piece.
The inanimate designs are drawn boldly in black out-
Hnes with colors added to fill some of the spaces (Color
Plate 1, Frontispiece). The background areas in many
cases are filled with crosshatching. One of the commonest
of the simple designs consists of line-bordered ^^rays" is-
Buff Ware
5
suing from the center of the bottom. Some of the rays are
painted yellow, others are tinted green or left uncolored.
Extra radial Hnes are often painted in. Sometimes these
are broken by groups of dots (3). Occasionally the Hnes
are wavy (4). In a few instances a wavy hne is twined
around a straight one (14). Another simple decoration
consists of interwoven bands, colored yellow and green,
crossing at right angles (8).
The design of a large number of the inanimate bowls is
divided into four sectors. These are often bounded by
strapUke bands that may form a cross at the center (5) or
may be interrupted there by a square (2) or a rosette (15).
A fourfold repetition filling a circular space is character-
istic of Iranian pottery decoration. It can be considered a
fundamental design — one that, once introduced, never
dies out. It is common, for example, on bowls of the fourth
miUennium B.C. made in Susa (Herzfeld, Iran in the An-
cient East^ p. 49, fig. 84). It is also to be seen on early but-
ton seals of Susa (Mecquenem &c Contenau, Archeologie,
p. 11, fig. 6, no. l). The basic quadrantal design is found
in the much later Sasanian period, after Iran had shaken
ofi* most of her Greek influence; it occurs, for example, on
the cloak of Anahita in the sculptures at Taq-i-Bustan
(Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East^ p. 339, fig. 421). The
quadrantal treatment was also used in the early Abbasid
period by the potters of Iraq (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery,
pi. llB). The treatment of the radiating bands in the
Nishapur bowls contrasts with what is found in the
twelfth-century pottery of Kish (near Babylon), in which
the bands radiate from eccentric points (ReitHnger, Ars
Islamica^ II, p. 214, fig. 16B); in Nishapur the bands
either cross a central point (5) or are lateral to it (6).
In the Nishapur buff ware the quadrants of the plainer
bowls are often fiUed with crosshatching, the squares of
which are filled with blobs of color and groups of three or
four dots (5). Occasionally the hatching is triple, without
added color (14, 18), a decoration not found in any other
Nishapur pottery. Checkering is another treatment found
in the four-sectored designs (2, 32). The quadrants are
frequently edged at the rim with a sawtooth (5, 6, 15, 24),
a decoration that is common in other wares of Nishapur,
notably the black on white and the ware decorated with
yellow-staining black. An infrequent substitution for the
band of sawtooth is a pseudo inscription in debased
Kufic (l6). Inscriptions and pseudo inscriptions in more
developed forms also occur in the buff ware, particularly
in the animate group, but at best they are of less impor-
tance here than in other wares, particularly the black on
white. For this reason extended comment on the subject
of inscriptions as pottery decorations will be found in the
introduction to that ware (pp. 92-93).
Not always content with such simple designs as have
been described, the Nishapur potters in many buff ware
bowls introduced rosettes, palmettes, and half-palmettes,
usually within the scheme of four basic sectors. In such
bowls the spaces between the strapHke bands may be
filled with leafy forms (20); when the bands curve, the
forms may be enclosed within the curves (25). The intro-
duction of curving, interwoven, looped bands results in
less formal arrangements of the basic design. In a few
cases the bands form a figure eight (29, 30). In many
others a decorative motif is contained within, or grows
out of, interlooping bands — for example, a rosette (27) or
a palmette (30). In stiU others, on two opposite sides of
the interior, a large area, contrasting strongly with the
rest of the decoration, is fiUed with hatching containing
blobs of color and groups of dots (28). This treatment is
an elaboration of simple checkering, an ancient method of
decorating a bowl, to be seen in a piece of the fourth
millennium B.C. from Susa, in which two opposed areas
are so decorated (Mecquenem & Contenau, Archeologie,
pi. V, no. 3). In a large number of the Nishapur vessels
the decoration is arranged neither in sectors nor in dia-
metrically opposed areas; instead, concentric rings are
filled with circular ornaments and single leaves (26), or
with palmettes and other leafy forms growing from inter-
woven bands (39). The circular area on the bottom is
generally filled either with hnes of pseudo inscription
(26, 40) or crosshatching (39).
In only a few cases did the potters restrict their orna-
ment and allow comparatively large areas of unadorned
buff surface to show. This seems to occur most often
when the center of the bowl is decorated with a hexagon
or a pentagon (35-37).
The vessels discussed thus far are typically rather deep
with sUghtly convex sides. There is another group with
inanimate designs in which the shape is distinctly differ-
ent. The vessel is shallower, the walls flare out more, and
the rim sometimes stands up almost vertically (44-46)
or, contrariwise, is almost flat (42, 43). Coupled with the
change in shape is a change in decoration. In the shal-
lower bowls one finds widely curving bands in yellow or
green, strongly outhned in black, that meet in the center.
Some of the bands are angled. Some have a half-palmette
sprouting from one side (4l); others, without the half-
palmette, have a foHated or bent-over top (42, 43). In
these designs the typical background filler is not cross-
hatching but either a combination of peacock eyes and
dots or a combination of curling S-lines or figure eights
and thick V- or U-shaped strokes that somewhat resemble
leaves. Generally these two kinds of filler occur on the
same bowl (30, 34, 41-44, 46). The peacock eyes and dots,
appearing in areas bounded by fine outKnes, occur in
other Nishapur wares : the polychrome on white, the sHp-
painted ware with colored engobe, the opaque white, and
the ware decorated with yellow-staining black. They are
6
Buff Ware
also to be seen in slip-painted wares of Afrasiyab (Lane,
Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. ISB) and other centers (Hob-
son, Islamic Pottery^ fig. 36). Undoubtedly this decoration
was borrowed from the west, since it is characteristic of
Abbasid luster ware of Iraq (Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, p.
148, figs. 2, 6). The second of these decorations, the com-
bination of S-lines or figure eights and leaflike strokes, is
perhaps an eastern version of the dotted S-curves so com-
mon as the exterior decoration of Abbasid monochrome
luster bowls (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 13B). De-
spite this resemblance, the motif, as it appears on the bufiF
ware, can be identified as having been drawn in Nishapur.
The second of the two principal groups of the buff
ware— that with animate decoration — ^includes vessels
decorated with birds, beasts, and human beings, singly or
in combinations. The figures are presented as the princi-
pal feature of the design, with supplementary ornaments,
never absent, filling the spaces around them. In general,
as opposed to the orderly repetitions in the inanimate
group, the placing of the decoration in the animate group
may be said to be improvisational, even haphazard. The
exceptions occur in bowls having decorative elements re-
peated in concentric circles around a central medallion
(63, 73, 75, among others).
The animate vessels, which vary greatly in size and
shape, include bowls, dishes (a few of which are provided
with feet), and pitchers. Most are more carefully potted
than comparable pieces in the inanimate group, although
none is as thinly turned as, for comparison's sake, the best
of the black on white ware or the polychrome on white.
The color scheme differs from that of the inanimate group
only in that it generally includes more yellow and that the
surface of the bowl may be lighter in tone. The same trans-
parent green is applied. In a few instances reddish sKp
painting is added sparingly (see Color Plate 2, page xiii).
When the buff ware first became known to collectors,
the animate pieces, with their bold, unrealistic style,
aroused particular interest. For the archeologist and art
historian the images on these vessels have an attraction in
that, aside from several Nishapur wall paintings that fea-
ture human figures, they offer practically the only possi-
biUty of our knowing what the people who once inhabited
Nishapur looked Hke. From this point of view it is unfor-
tunate that artistic license and clumsiness of draftsman-
ship obscure much of the information. As will be discov-
ered in the notes on the individual pieces, the potters
were frequently indifferent to, or perhaps confused by,
such matters as details of dress and ways of wearing hair,
and in some cases the viewer of today cannot even be cer-
tain of the figure's sex. It happens that, apart from one
ambiguous figinre (59), only male representations were
found on the buff ware excavated by the Museum. This
limitation to one sex is merely due to the accident of sur-
vival, since it is now certain from pieces subsequently
found that females were also represented. An excellent
example can be seen on a bowl in the Freer Gallery,
Washington, D.C. {Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig.
5). The features of the two women closely resemble those
of a woman to be seen on a fragment found in Merv
(Masson, Trudy, II, p. 51, fig. 43), and these, in turn, have
a close relationship with female heads in the wall paint-
ings of Samarra. This relationship must not, however, be
interpreted as showing that the wall paintings influenced
the ceramics of Khurasan. It is far more likely that the
style is from a tradition that persisted in Khurasan and
Transoxiana. There is some evidence for thinking this,
thanks to the discovery in Merv of a vase of the fifth or
sixth century decorated with a scene in which both a man
and a woman appear (Pugachenkova, Art of Turkmen-
istan, fig. 67.)
In their own way, the animals and birds that appear on
the Nishapur buff ware are as bizarre as the human figures
they sometimes accompany. The horses, seen both with
and without riders, are made into local backgrounds for
floral ornament, the cheetahlike creatures that appear
above them may have wings, birdhke beaks, or leaflike
tails. The long-horned quadrupeds that appear on so
many of the bowls may be intended as ibex or as gazelles,
yet their ridiculously spindly legs may indicate that they
are neither, for such legs suggest neither the sturdiness of
the mountain-climbing ibex nor the fleetness of the ga-
zelle. As an example of the Nishapur artist's indifference
to nature — assuming that this is simply indifference — the
heads of these animals are drawn in the same way as those
of the birds, any differentiation being confined to the ad-
dition of ears, horns, or crests as the case may be. Another
singular fact is that the animals and birds are for the most
part represented as of the same size, making the birds ap-
pear gigantic, or vice versa (for further comment on this
point, see 62).
Turning to the birds themselves, some of them, in view
of their elaborate crests and pear-shaped tails, may be in-
tended as peacocks. Peacocks figured commonly in Sa-
sanian art, and in Nishapur of the ninth and tenth cen-
turies this bird may have been regarded, as it was else-
where, as a Christian symbol of immortaUty. It is certain
not only that Christians then dwelt in Nishapur but that
some of the buff ware (48, 49) was made either for them or
by them. On the other hand, it is unsafe to count too
heavily on what was in the potter's mind. His wide devi-
ations from nature in the painting of these birds, as in the
rest of his animate subjects, make it possible that he was
representing doves or pigeons rather than peacocks.
The numerous smalt motifs that fill the spaces around
the animate figures are discussed in some detail in the
notes on the individual pieces. Here it is sufficient to point
Buff Ware
7
out that a number of them occur in the decoration of
other Nishapur wares and to draw attention to the pot-
ter's practice of Unking two or more seemingly unrelated
ornaments, often at abrupt angles (59, 62, 72). Such link-
ages of small motifs, unknown in the other wares of Nish-
apur, continue a tradition from Central Asian painting.
Furthermore, it is remarkable that the same spirit of dec-
oration, even to superficial resemblances, exists in this
Islamic pottery of the Abbasid period and Greek (Rho-
dian) pottery of the sixth century B.C. — the more so in
that there is an almost total lack of continuity between
these distant periods. Among the motifs found in each
(A, Fairbanks, Catalogue of Greek and Etruscan Vases^
Cambridge, Mass., 1928, I, pi. XXVI, no, 290) are leaflike
forms arranged to form a cross, looped lozengelike figures
in groups of four, triangular forms attached to confining
edges, and rosettes of dots. The rosette of dots, inciden-
tally, is also a common motif in the Nishapur ware with
shp painting on a colored engobe (Group 5).
The exteriors of the animate bowls as a ride are more
elaborately decorated than those of the inanimate, but
here, too, certain motifs recur: closed brackets, Knes of
herringbone, lozenges, triangles, and pear shapes. Just
as the very simple adornments of the inanimate bowls
contrast sharply with the designs on the interior, the
more complex but regularly repeating exterior patterns
of the animate bowls contrast with the sometimes chaotic
designs within. Most of the exterior patterns on the ani-
mate vessels, it may be noted, are not to be found on the
other wares made in Nishapur or, indeed, on wares made
anywhere else.
1 BOWL (restored)
D 17, H 7.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.82
In the group of vessels without human figures, animals, or
birds in their decoration, this shape, with incurving rim
and small diameter at the bottom as compared to the
height, is unusual. The ground of the decoration is cross-
hatched. The pattern at the rim, an undulating stem bear-
ing trilobed leaves, also occurs in the animate group (63).
The pattern around the wall, two wavelike bands enclos-
ing palmettes, is a simpler version of that on 39. The
motif on the bottom, filling the quadrants of a cross whose
arms are not equal in width, is composed either of four
segments defining a lozenge with incurved sides, contain-
ing a circular center, or a circle containing a curve-sided
lozenge, the segments being merely the local background.
The nature of the motif changes, that is, according to
which part of it is considered dominant. It seems to be
one of the most persistent ornamental patterns ever de-
vised. For example, it appears as a geometrical exercise on
a cuneiform tablet of the early second millennium (about
1800 B.C.), accompanied by these remarks: "A square, the
side is 1. Inside it [are] 4 quadrants, [and] 16 boat-shapes.
I have drawn 5 regular concave-sided tetragons. This area,
what is it?" (H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness That Was
Babylon^ London, 1962, pi. 24, drawing, p. 453), The
motif was known in the Parthian period, seen in a stucco
decoration (Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East^ pi. xcix),
occurs in the pattern of a mosaic floor in the fifth-century
synagogue at Sardis {Archaeology^ 19, January, 1966, fig.
on p. 275), is found in the Sasanian period forming a
decorative band on a bronze ewer (Sarre, Die Kunst des
Alien Persien^ pi. 127, left), and appears in the Islamic
period in an eighth-century wall painting as the ornament
on a girl's skirt (Hamilton, Khirbat al Mafjar^ p. 234,
fig. 178). After a long persistence in textiles of Transoxi-
ana, it appears on a robe worn by Muzzafar-uddin, the
Emir of Bukhara (1860-85) (G. Wheeler, The Modern His-
tory of Soviet Central Asia, London, 1964, fig. 12). Fainted
serially, the motif appears as a rim decoration on other
vessels in the inanimate group (26, 36, 57). Used individ-
ually, the motif occurs in the animate ware^in subsidiary
decoration on a fragment in the Metropolitan (40.170,432),
not illustrated here, and as a large decorative form upon a
horse on a bowl, probably from Nishapur, in the Abegg
Stiftung, Bern.
The decoration on the exterior of 1 consists of two mo-
tifs alternating: a group of two vertical strokes with hori-
zontal lobes, vaguely suggesting Kufic script, and an in-
verted triangle placed above a V-topped vertical line.
Green and yellow have been added in the spaces. This
decoration, more elaborate than customary, would be
more at home on the exterior of an animate bowl. No
other bowl like 1 was found. Due to erosion, it is almost
devoid of glaze. Probably not earlier than the tenth cen-
tury.
8
Buff Ware
2 BOWL
D 23.4, H 8.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Heavily potted. The starkness of the design, with its
strong purplish black outlines and bold checkering on a
crosshatched ground, is typical of such heavy bowls. The
interlocked bands are yellow, the spots within their loops
green. Green, too, are the four straplike bands that divide
the design into quarters. The line on the rim is purplish
black. Many of the inanimate bowls have such a rim line.
The exterior is decorated at the rim with claw -shaped
strokes of purplish black, as seen on the exterior of 3. Late
ninth or early tenth century.
3 BOWL
D 20, H 8.25 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
An example of a simple radial decoration found on many
bowls in the lower levels, datable to the ninth century.
The V's that contain center lines are without color; those
that do not have a center line are alternately yellow and
green. The same design was painted on bowls and dishes
of about half this size. The triangular groups of three dots
on the wall are a frequent detail in the inanimate group
(compare 13, 15). They are also common in the animate
group, both in the decoration of leafy forms and as an
addition at the ears and tails of animals. The claw -shaped
strokes of pigment seen on the exterior at the rim are one
of the two typical decorations found on these thick, heavy,
deep bowls, the other being V-shapes filled with vertical
strokes (20). Most of these bowls, including 3, have a flat
1:3
base. Occasionally the base is slightly concave; in even
fewer cases it has a deep circular groove, as does an ex-
ample decorated like 3 in the Metropolitan (40.170.21).
the rest are without color. There is no yellow on this bowl.
Similar bowls were found built into a ninth-century wall
of sun-dried bricks in Tepe Madraseh and in low-level
pits and wells. Some have the claw-shaped strokes of pig-
ment seen on the exterior of 3; others (like 4) are un-
decorated on the exterior. For a somewhat better-made
piece found in Corinth, an import there, see C. H.
Morgan II, The Byzantine Pottery^ Cambridge, Mass., 1942,
fig. 148B.
5 BOWL
D 20, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The design is divided into quadrants by strapHke bands
with notched outlines, colored green (the darker bands)
and yellow (the Hghter). Each quadrant is treated almost
as if it were a flower petal, with a crosshatched heart shape
added at the inner corner. The space above this shape is
filled with a larger crosshatching, the alternate squares of
which are filled with dots, the rest touched with yellow or
green. At the rim, interrupted by the bands, a purplish
black sawtooth.
The dot-filled crosshatching, not peculiar to Nishapur,
was widely used in the ninth century, both on ceramics and
glass. It occurs on a number of the inanimate bowls (6, 16,
24, 28, 34) and as part of the exterior decoration on an
animate bowl (91). The sawtooth rim border, con^n&d to
sectors in the buff ware (6, 15, 24), is frequently seen in
the black on white ware and the ware decorated with
yellow-staining black, in both of which it often appears as
a continuous line.
For variations in the design of 5, see 6, where the differ-
ences are slight, and 16, where they are considerable. In
still another variation, not illustrated, the quadrants are
divided by lanceolate shapes similar to those of 16 but
banded like the ^'pinecones" of 17. The exterior of 5 is
adorned with claw-shaped strokes of pigment (compare 3).
6 BOWL
D 21, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
In this common variant of 5, the straplike bands do not
cross at the center but instead give the impression of being
interwoven. The effect is enhanced by the counterchange
of the yellow and green with which they are colored.
4 BOWL
D 20, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.24
A common type produced in the ninth century. Poorly
made, with flat base, decorated with wavy lines rather than
the straight lines of 3. The dark-toned bands are green;
7 BOWL
D 19, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.31
A decoration of wide composite bands forming a cross on
a crosshatched ground, the drawing in purplish black.
Centered in each band, and crossing at right angles in the
Buff Ware
9
center, are outlined straplike bands, one green, one yel-
low. Flanking these bands, chevron fashion, are shorter
outlined bands of green and yellow. Wavy lines, also in
chevron fashion, appear between the colored bands. The
squares of the crosshatching have been given a short stroke
at the intersection. The result is less than a true triple
hatch, such as can be seen on 14 and others. This quasi-
triple hatch, seemingly peculiar to this ninth-century
Nishapur pottery, is to be seen on another and more ela-
borately decorated bowl, found after 1940 (Jakobsen,
Islamische Keramik Exhibition Catalogue, pi. 2). The ex-
terior of 7 is decorated at the rim with claw -shaped strokes
of pigment. Found with this bowl, in a location indicating
a ninth-century dating, was an opaque white ware dish
with overglaze decoration in blue (Group 6, 1).
8 BOWL
D 19.6, H 7.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.102
Flat base. Exterior decorated at rim with claw-shaped
strokes of purplish black. Interior: wide interweaving
bands, alternately striped and colored green or yellow.
Many bowls or fragments of this type were found. In some
the bands in two opposed quadrants are replaced with
checkering. Although the design apparently died out in
Nishapur by the tenth century, another version of it is to
be seen in the twelfth-century glazed pottery of Corinth
(C. H. Morgan II, The Byzantine Pottery^ Cambridge,
Mass., 1942, pi. xxiii, b).
9 DISH (restored)
D 10, H 4.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.170
Plain flat base, typical of such small dishes (see also 10,
11). Exterior undecorated. Decoration on interior: a wide
Crosshatch with diagonal lines drawn through the squares
in alternate rows.
10 DISH
D 11.5, H 4.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.201
Plain flat base. Exterior undecorated. Interior: broad
crossbands drawn in purplish black, two colored yellow,
two touched with green, with an uncolored square at the
center. Curved lines enclosing the bands produce a flower-
like effect. For more developed versions of this idea, see
12 and 38.
11 DISH (some restoration)
D 13.4, H 5,3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.97
Plain flat base. Exterior undecorated. Interior: a cross of
four lanceolate forms, two of which are green, two yellow.
The quadrants are filled with cusped shapes, left uncolored.
12 BOWL
D 15.4, H 5,6 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Four straplike bands colored green, with a dab of yellow
placed in the square at their intersection. Lotuslike petals
fill the quadrants, with the center petal in each group
streaked with yellow. The exterior is decorated at the rim
with claw-shaped strokes of pigment in the manner of 3.
For a similar treatment of a flowerlike decoration, see 10;
for a more complex treatment, see 38,
13 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Instead of bands, crosshatched lanceolate forms define the
quadrants. These are filled with three-petaled flower
forms. The colors of the petals, yellow and green, are
counterchanged; the center petal of one group is yellow,
that of the next, green. Each petal contains a median
stroke of black. From either side at the tip the center
petals sprout a horizontal ^^leaf." The triangle of three
dots added beneath each leaf is a feature frequently en-
countered, as mentioned at 3.
14 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 21, H 7.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Greenish glaze. Design divided by bands into eight sec-
tors. In each band a combination of a straight and a zigzag
line gives the eSect of one twisted around the other (see
also 16), The spaces between the bands are filled with
triple hatching. The eightfold repetition of a dominant
motif (see also 17) is comparatively rare in Nishapur pot-
tery, perhaps because it was felt to be monotonous. The
motif of the entwined line was also used in wall decora-
tions in Nishapur; an example was found in a ninth-
century wall painting in Tepe Madraseh.
15 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 16.8 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Most of the preceding bowls have bands that cross at the
center; here the circular form of the bowl is emphasized
by the presence of a double ring around the bottom.
10
Buff Ware
Within it is a rosette formed of long, pointed petals alter-
nating with rounded petals. The pointed petals are deco-
rated with a median line, the rounded petals with a tri-
angle of three dots. For a similar rosette in a double ring,
see 24. A related example in the Metropolitan (40. 1 70.428)
shows a variation, with heart shapes between the pointed
petals. On the wall of 15, bands define areas that contain,
alternately, a notched budlike form with its tip at the rim
and a triple-hatched conical form with its tip touching the
center ring. Lengths of sawtooth (see 5 for comment) ap-
pear on the rim above the conical forms. Parts of another
bowl were found, in a ninth-century location, on which
similar budlike forms broke into the rosette on the bottom.
16 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 19.5, H 8 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MMA 39.40.122
On the bottom, a square outlined with a band containing
a combination of a straight and a zigzag line. A similar
combination of lines occurs on 14. The square contains
a petaled form in reserve. A crosshatched lanceolate form
extends up the wall from each corner of the square. The
intervening triangular areas are filled with the dotted and
color-dabbed crosshatching seen previously (5, 6). The
sawtooth rim decoration of 15 is replaced here with a de-
based form of Kufic writing, painted in reserve. The ex-
terior is decorated with the usual claw-shaped strokes of
pigment. Base slightly concave.
17 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 16.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
Discarded
Radial bands extending to the rim divide the design into
eight sectors (comment on this at 14). Each sector con-
tains a suspended "pinecone," crosshatched and orna-
mented with a horizontal bar. Above each pinecone is a
length of horizontal band colored green.
18 BOWL
D 19.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The usual quadrantal design, effected with unusually
wide bands. These have notched outlines and contain
ladderlike divisions. Alternating in the divisions are a
pointed crosshatched biconvex form and a lozenge, its
circular center blobbed with color. The quadrants, out-
lined by green bands, are triple hatched (compare 14).
19 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
Four straplike bands, colored green, meet at the center.
Trilobate forms (seen complete on 20 and 21) flank the
bands. In the intervening spaces, on a crosshatched
ground, are trefoils on stalks, an unusual motif in Nisha-
pur ceramics but one that may have been used in rugs for
centuries, since it appears in nineteenth-century Turko-
man rugs from the Amou-Darya region in Uzbekistan
(Chepelev, Iskusstvo^ 1, fig. on p. 56).
20a,b BOWL
D 25, H 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.68
(Color Plate 1, Frontispiece)
Typical of buff ware bowls of the late ninth century with
inanimate decoration, the design is divided into quarters
by means of intersecting bands. The bands are flanked by
trilobate forms (compare 19, 21). Growing from the inner
corner of each crosshatched quadrant is a stem, ending in
a trilobate leaf. The leaf, bent horizontally, supports a
flowerlike form that rises to the rim. This form, which has
a palmette at its center, is enclosed by a band whose foli-
ated ends echo the treatment of the trilobate leaf. The
motif of a palmette enclosed between two vertical stems or
half-palmettes that develop horizontally at the top ap-
pears to have been widespread in the ninth century. It
was already in use as an architectural decoration in the
eighth century, occurring in carved stucco panels at Khir-
bat al Mafjar, Jordan (Hamilton, Khirhat al Mafjar^ p.
224, fig. 173, p. 266, fig. 216b). Variations are to be seen
on the beams of the mosque at Qairawan (Greswell, Early
Muslim Architecture, II, p. 223, pi. 50 d), at the top of a
measuring column at Roda (ibid,, pi. 82 g), in Samarra
(E. E. Herzfeld, Der Wandschmuck der Bauten von Sa-
marra und Seine Ornamentik^ Berlin, 1923, pi. LXVii, orn.
190, fig. 170), and in a plaster decoration, perhaps of the
late tenth century, in the church of El-'Adra in the Wadi
'N Natrun (H. G. Evelyn -White, The Monasteries of the
Wadi ''N Natrun^ New York, 1933, pi. lxviii).
On 20, as on other bowls with related decoration (19,
21~23, 25), the potter adorned his foliate forms with single
and double dots. The decoration on the exterior (20b)
consists of V's filled with vertical strokes, one of the two
common treatments of the inanimate buff ware (for the
other, see 3). The base, slightly concave, is not glazed.
From a ninth-century location. Related in style are some
1:2
Buff Ware
11
very small bowls; the one shown came from a low-level
plaster floor in Tepe Madraseh.
21 BOWL
D 19.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Related in design to 20, and of the same date. The trilo-
bate forms that flank the bands are here more leaflike, as
well as better drawn and more prominent. The cross-
hatched quadrants contain an attenuated diamond form
that touches the rim between two tripartite forms. For
mention of the single and double dots within the various
forms, see 20. The exterior is decorated at the rim with
claw-shaped strokes of pigment.
22 BOWL
D 20.3, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The division of the design into four parts is here effected
by interwoven bands, left uncolored, that enclose a pet-
aled device (visible at the top in the illustration) alter-
nating with a half-leaf (barely visible at the sides). The
divisions of the design are not equal in size, the areas con-
taining the petaled device being larger than those with the
half-leaf. Compare 29, both for the form of the half-leaf
and for a similar inequality in the size of the "quarters."
The touches of yellow on 22 are apparent in the illustra-
tion as the lightest tones; the green has vanished with the
glaze. The exterior is decorated with groups of vertical
strokes enclosed in Vs. Ninth century. Closely resem-
bling one another, 22 and 29 were probably drawn by the
same hand.
23 BOWL
D 20,5, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The crossbands, with the central area colored green, lack
the supplementary leaflike buttresses of 19-21. The quad-
rants contain a rather stiff leafy decoration, composed of
two vertical stems, back to back, from which trilobate half-
leaves and budlike forms grow. They are sprinkled with
single and double dots (compare 19-22). The exterior has
the usual claw-shaped strokes of pigment at the rim. From
a low-level, ninth -century location.
24 BOWL
D 20.3, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Appearing four times on the wall is a pear shape contain-
ing a crudely drawn leaflike form. The intervening spaces
are filled with dotted and ^color-dabbed crosshatching,
with lengths of sawtooth at the rim (see 5 for comment oh
both crosshatching and sawtooth). The rosette and ring
on the bottom are similar to those on 15. The exterior is
undecorated. Ninth century. For another treatment of the
pear-shaped motif in another ware, see Group 4, 22,
where several variations are discussed.
25 BOWL
D 19.5, H 7.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.9
Curved interlacing bands occur on a number of bowls that
were found in the lowest, or ninth-century, levels of Tepe
Madraseh. The bands of 25, which are without added
color, form four circles that are filled with a particularly
vigorous vegetal form. This form and the rosette on the
bottom — drawn around a cross with arms of equal width
(compare 1) — are sprinkled with dots. Blobs of green and
yellow have been applied in the circles, at the crossings
of the bands, in the center of the bottom, and in the
vegetal forms.
26 BOWL
D 20, H 7.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 38.40.299
A central medallion crossed by a band containing dotted
circles in two groups of four separated by two singles. On
either side of the band, a line of pseudo-Kufic writing, its
base toward the center. Surrounding the central medal-
lion, a band containing leaves alternately green and yel-
low. For comment on the ambiguous motif in the band
nearer the rim, see 1. Here, because the segments sur-
rounding the lozenges are strongly touched with yellow,
the design appears to be a repeating group of four leaves
or petals. Above this decoration, a green band and a yel-
low band. A black line on the rim. The exterior is deco-
rated with V's filled with vertical strokes. Base, slightly
concave. Ninth century. Poorly turned; in one place,
pushed out by the potter's finger, the thinned wall is all
but perforated. Having the same lozenge decoration at
the rim, 36 and 57 may have come from the same pottery
as 26.
27 BOWL (minor restoration)
D 20.3, H 7.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 37.40.15
1:3
12
Buff Ware
Bone-colored engobe. This design of curved interlacing
bands appears to have been very popular. No particular
form that they enclose here, contrary to the case in 25, is
dominant. In another example so decorated the circle on
the bottom was filled with checkering. The exterior of 27
is decorated with groups of vertical strokes in Vs. The
base is flat, with a very slight, narrow groove near the
center. Ninth century.
28 BOWL
D 19.2, H 8 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
A combination of curved interlacing bands in the manner
of 27 and two large areas of dotted and color-dabbed cross-
hatching in the manner of 5. Same exterior decoration as
27. Ninth century.
29 BOWL
D 20.3, H 8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.106
The interlacing bands, which have not been colored, here
form two prominent cone-shaped areas and two circular
areas, the first filled with half-leaves, the second with four-
petaled rosettes- The decorative lines added in the rosettes
are almost obHterated by the opacity of the yellow pig-
ment and the density of the locally green-stained glaze.
As on several of the preceding bowls, dots in ones, twos,
and threes have been inserted in the leafy forms. Ninth
century- Closely related to 22 and probably drawn by the
same hand. The exterior is decorated with V's filled with
vertical strokes. The base is flat, with a narrow groove one
centimeter in from the edge.
30 BOWL
D 20.3, H 7.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.72
Curved bands, crossing at the center of the bowl, form a
figure eight, each loop enclosing a palmette. The bands
and the half-leaves they give off are colored yellow. The
palniettes are surrounded by a curling line and dot motif,
the half-leaves by outlined compartments containing pea-
cock eyes and dots. Green dots appear in the half-leaves,
palmettes, peacock eyes, and irregularly elsewhere. The
figure-eight design is commoner on shallower, more flar-
ing bowls than this. So too are the peacock eyes and the
Hne and dot motif around the palmettes (compare 34,
41-44, 46). The curling line and dot motif does not seem
to have been introduced before the end of the tenth cen-
tury. It appears on some of the sherds from Afrasiyab in
the vessels with a white engobe and decoration in black
and red. Along with the peacock -eye motif it reveals links
with the yellow and brown imitation luster ware of Nisha-
pur (Group 6, 49-51). Peacock eyes also appear in the
polychrome on white and the yellow-staining black wares
of Nishapur (Groups 4 and 8).
The rim decoration of 30 consists of a dotted circle at-
tached to a stem, alternating with a dotted semicircle. For
variations of this design, see 44, 45. The exterior of 30 is
decorated with vertical strokes in Vs. Base, flat, with a
narrow groove. Probably tenth century.
31 BOWL
D 25.9, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Of larger than usual size. Decoration features a strict di-
vision into quarters by means of straplike bands, with
curved interweaving bands in the crosshatched quadrants.
The subsidiary decoration consists of oval, leafy, and four-
petaled flower forms. Exterior: the usual strokes in Vs.
A related bowl w^as found with triple-hatched ground.
32 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 22 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Decoration consists of two checkered compartments (one
missing) alternating with two circular medallions filled
with vertical Hnes, the spaces between the lines colored
alternately yellow and green. The somewhat heraldic ap-
pearance of the checkering is fortuitous, caused by the
shieldlike shape it fills. This shape is flanked by the same
trilobate forms seen on 19 and 20. Above the '^shield" is
a lozenge form comparable to that in the bands of 18. The
ground is crosshatched in the usual manner.
33 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 22 cm ; Village Tepe
Discarded
An example show^ing elaborately interwoven bands, with
checkering, leaf and flower forms, and crosshatching. The
vertical leafy forms seen within one of the circles may have
been intended as the finials of a pseudo inscription.
34 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 20.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.463
Part of a large vessel with incurved rim and concave base.
Splashes of glaze appear on the base. Bone-colored en-
gobe. Design divided by curving bands into eight units :
four large inverted cone shapes alternating with four
smaller ones. The larger shapes contain an inverted five-
or possibly seven-leaved palmette surrounded by a re-
peated unit consisting of a circular stem enclosing small
leaflike forms arranged as Vs with a spot added at the top
Buff Ware
13
(compare 30). This particular motif appears in identical
form on a bowl found at Zamakhshar, near Tashauze in
Transoxiana, and assigned to the twelfth to fourteenth
century (Voyevodsky, Bulletin of the American Institute for
Iranian Art and Archaeology^ V. p. 243, fig. 12d). Probably
twelfth century, A bowl from Afrasiyab is illustrated by
Tashkhodzhaev {Artistic Glazed Ceramics of Samarkand^
pi. 5, bottom right) and is related to this kind of Nisha-
pur ware, although it is without the V-motif. The design
consists basically of a cross formed of cones, with their
points touching at the center, that are filled with a form of
crosshatching more heavily outlined than is customary in
Nishapur. The four spaces between these cones are filled
with foliate forms against a black background, reminiscent
of Nishapur buff ware. A border not unlike that of 63 com-
pletes the design. Some resemblance to the motif surround-
ing the palmettes on 34 can be seen in a glazed pottery
bowl from Afghanistan, dated by Gar din to the twelfth
century (Gardin, Ars Orientalis^ II, p. 241, fig. 6, no. 68).
This type of ware has more recently been discovered at
Qumis, and it would seem that it was not introduced until
the eleventh century anywhere. In a busier, more con-
fused, small-blobbed form, the motif appears on twelfth-
century luster pieces of Iran (Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 637 A)
and Rayy {Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig, 21), and
on eleventh-century luster ware from Egypt (Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ pi. 23A). A related form, in which circling
stems are supplemented by spots and thick curls rather
than by heavy V- shapes, is to be seen in the twelfth-
century underglaze-painted, blue-glazed ware of Raqqa,
Syria {Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig. 20; Hobson,
Islamic Pottery^ fig. 26), including a bowl in the Metropoli-
tan (56.185.6) (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery, pi. 77B). It
even appears in Nishapur itself in underglaze-painted,
blue-glazed ware (Group 11, 16, 17, 23).
The smaller cone shapes of 34 as well as the encircled
bottom are filled with the decorative crosshatching seen
on 5 and other vessels. The small irregular areas between
the cone shapes are filled with dots, a treatment also to be
seen in the polychrome on white ware and the ware dec-
orated with yellow-staining black.
35 a,b BOWL
D 18, H 7.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170,1
1:3
An unusual shape, the rim sharply everted. With this
projection it is not surprising that there is no decoration
on the exterior wall. The base has a deep groove, an un-
common feature in the inanimate buff ware. The glaze has
disappeared except here and there on the black lines. The
yellow and green have disappeared as well. Although
poorly drawn, the decoration is interesting for its hexa-
gon, an unusual form in Nishapur pottery. Within the
hexagon two superimposed squares form a Solomon's seal
with a circular device in the center. A stock decoration in
Islamic art (for its appearance in another Nishapur ware
see Group 6, 1), the Solomon's seal goes back to Sasanian
times, occurring in stucco decoration from Ummez Za'tir
at Ctesiphon.
36 a,b BOWL
D 18.5, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Another vessel with a central hexagon (compare 35).
Within the hexagon is a spiral ending in a floriation, a
conventional design employed in the ninth century in arts
other than pottery. It occurs, for example, in one of the
squares in the tympanum below the first dome in the Great
Mosque at Susa in Tunis (Creswell, Early Muslim Archi-
tecture, II, p. 252, fig. 200C). Pairs of dots and single dots,
found on many buff ware bowls, appear in the central dec-
oration of 36. A wide blank space occurs between the
hexagon and the rim decoration; unfilled areas such as
this, common in other Nishapur wares, are rare in the
buff ware. For discussion of the rim decoration, see 1.
Portions of the drawing ran when the piece was fired
(inverted). The double curve of the silhouette (36b) is
unusual in the buff ware; for its occurrence in another
ware, see Group 5, 19. The exterior of 36 is decorated with
the usual groups of vertical strokes within Vs. The base is
without a groove. Perhaps made in the same factory as
26 and 57.
37 BOWL
D 20.6, H 8.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.272
Drawing in purplish black on a ground that has an un-
usual mauve tinge, probably due to an accidental admix-
ture of a little manganese in the glaze. The main element
in the design, contained in a central circle, is a pentagon
with irregularly curved sides. Within it, on a crosshatched
ground, is a short stem from which grows a trilobed leaf
with excrescences. The spaces between the pentagon and
its enclosing circle are filled with half-palmettes. Scattered
in the spaces and in the central leafy forms are the single
dots and groups of dots seen on so many buff ware bowls.
The space between the center design and the rim decora-
tion is rather sparsely filled with two motifs alternating: a
rosette in a circle of crosshatching, and two half-leaves ex-
tending horizontally with their short curved stems merg-
ing. The indentations of one leaf point up, those of the
14
Buff Ware
other down. This motif, on a smaller scale, occurs on one
of the animate bowls, 60. It does not occur in the other
wares of Nishapur but was found in almost identical form
among some sketches on a plastered wall in the Vineyard
Tepe, painted in black on the white surface (Hauser Sc
Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ April,
1942, p. 119, fig. 46). A similar half-leaf motif is to be seen
on a tenth-century monochrome luster bowl (P^zard,
Ceramique^ pi. cxiv). The rim decoration of 37 consists of
circles in reserve in a black band, colored yellow and
green alternately. The decoration on the exterior consists
of vertical strokes within Vs. Base slightly concave. Lo-
cation indicates ninth century. Location of the plaster
wall mentioned above indicates the same date.
38 BOWL
D 20, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
The design resembles an open flower (compare 10, 12).
Based on simple crosslines, the four principal '^petals"
are formed of wavy lines and curved lines. The single
hatching within them is unusual in the buff ware. The
triangular secondary ^^petals," which were drawn after
the primary ones (the lines overlap here and there), have
double outlines and contain two pairs of short horizontal
strokes separated by a vertical stroke. The background is
crosshatched. The flower effect is enhanced by a circular
spot of yellow placed upon the intersection of the cross-
lines. The exterior is without decoration.
39 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 26.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Plain base, slightly concave. Decoration on the wall: inter-
woven bands, from which grow five-lobed palmettes, the
usual crosshatched ground. On the bottom: the decorated
Crosshatch seen on previous pieces (5, 6, 16, 24, 34), with
the difference that the added dots are in threes. The light-
toned spots in the illustration represent the mustard yel-
low blobs that were added to the original drawing in black
before the glaze w^as applied. The glaze has entirely dis-
integrated, exceptionally, taking the yellow w^ith it.
40 BOWL
D 25.5, H 8.1 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
In a central medallion, three lines of Kufic inscription, one
of which, relative to the others, is upside down. All three
would appear to be an adaptation of the Arabic word hara-
keh (blessing). The connection of the letter with the suc-
ceeding letter, as here, is common in Nishapur pottery in-
scriptions, even though, properly, the letter should not be
so joined. One of the kafs (top line in the illustration) has
1:3
been written reversed, as in a mirror. From a band encir-
cling the center, eight leafy forms curl upward in S-shapes.
These alternate with a pointed biconvex form. The ground
of the decoration is crosshatched, and the familiar dots
appear in the leafy forms, the band, and the inscriptions.
The flat rim has an unusual decoration : a series of shallow
Vs. These were probably once colored yellow and green
alternately. The glaze is entirely eroded.
41 a,b BOWL
D 24.5, H 10.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.97
Reddish body. Upturned lip. Slightly concave base, un-
glazed, upon which is a large bead of yellowish green, the
result of dripping from above when the piece was fired
bottom up. The principal components of the design, V's
made of curving radial bands, appear four times, twice
colored green, twice yellow\ Four of the bands give oflf a
leafy form on one side, the tip of which rises to a circum-
scribing circle just below the rim. The compartments are
filled either with dots and peacock eyes or with spots and
a chain of thin S-lines (compare 30). The exterior (41b)
is decorated with vertical strokes in V's, alternating with
groups of three strong black strokes, an unusual feature.
42 BOWL
D 26, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Plain base, slightly concave. Exterior undecorated. Al-
though the components of the interior decoration are like
those of 41, the reduction to a threefold repetition is un-
usual. V-shapes are introduced among the curling stems
that fill the lanceolate forms. Forms closely related to these
are to be seen on pottery, dated to the twelfth century,
made at Bamiyan (Gardin, Ars Orientalis^ II, pi. 6, no. 68)
and Zamakhshar (Voyevodsky, Bulletin of the American
Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology^ V, p. 243, fig.
12d). A black line circles 42 at the beginning of its strongly
everted lip, and another black line (not visible in the illus-
tration) appears on the rim itself. A variation of the tri-
partite decoration was found on a bow^l whose rim was not
everted but sharply upturned.
Buff Ware
15
43 BOWL
D 24.3, H 7.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.99
The components of the design, similar to those of 41 and
42, appear in a less regular division. Two of the dividing
bands are plain and two are half-leaves, one growing out
of the other. The glaze has disintegrated, taking with it
most of the green (traces remain in the peacock eyes). The
yellow is still present, showing in the illustration as the
lightest tones. The lip is everted. The exterior is undeco-
rated. Plain base, slightly concave.
44 BOWL
D 18, H 7.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.4
Plain base, slightly concave. Representative (as is also 46)
of a number of bowls of this size in which the decoration of
curving bands and various leafy forms is generally more
loosely drawn than it is on larger bowls such as 41-43.
The sharply upturned rim is characteristic. The inner
wall is decorated at the rim with a series of triangles and
semicircles, some of which contain added strokes. The
exterior is decorated at the rim with a series of strokes, al-
ternately yellow and green, enclosed in curved brackets;
this decoration appears on bowls of the animate group.
Buff ware bowls of this shape are not earlier than the late
tenth century.
45 BOWL
D 18.3, H 7 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
The decoration is sparser than usual, and the motifs are
all quite simple. Four biconvex forms with green centers
rise from the bottom. Between them are circles filled with
parallel lines touched with spots of green and yellow. The
division of the decoration into four repeating parts, char-
acteristic of earlier, deeper bowls, persists in this shal-
lower type. The sharply upturned rim is decorated with
circles touched with yellow alternating with semicircles
touched with green, the latter having an added vertica
stroke at one side. A less common type of bowl than 44
and 46.
46 BOWL
D 18.5, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The design is divided into contrasting shapes by means of
yellow and green bands, some of which are straight, some
curved. The more or less triangular shapes, twice out-
lined, are filled with spots and peacock eyes. The more or
less lanceolate shapes are filled with curling lines, spots,
and the V-shaped leaves that also figure in 42-44. The
sharply upturned rim is decorated with a chevron pat-
tern, its lower triangles green, its upper, which contain
smaller triangles, yellow. The location, close to the top
level, suggests tenth century. For a variation of the chev-
ron rim pattern, see exterior of 47.
47 ajb BOWL
D 21.2, H 9.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Flat, uneven base. An unusual piece, intermediate be-
tween the animate and inanimate groups. Although the
delicacy of the potting, the extensive use of yellow in the
central square and bands, and certain of the ornamental
details point toward the animate group, no animal or hu-
man form is depicted. The chevron design on the exterior
(47b) occurs in both groups : in a related form in the in-
animate (46) and in a bowl (in a private collection) whose
interior is decorated with a horseman. On the other hand,
the little curls filling the triangular compartments of the
interior design are rarely seen in any Nishapur pottery
other than the monochrome ware with grafhato decora-
tion (Group 9, 51) and the ware decorated with yellow-
staining black (Group 8, 10). Such curls also appear in
early eleventh-century Egyptian monochrome luster ware
(Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 23B). The design of 47 is
based on a central square, its outline colored red. Within
this is a six-petaled rosette, doubly outlined in a way
characteristic of the animate ware (see 59). With a curious
addition that gives it the appearance of an opening bud,
the rosette is repeated on the walls within a pear shape
colored green. Although the rosette with this addition ap-
pears to be unique, the addition itself, in conjunction with
other motifs, is a feature of the animate group (72). On
the exterior of 47 the band immediately below the chevron
decoration is red. Tenth century.
48 DISH FRAGMENT
D 8.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.500
Part of a set of joined dishes that once rested on conical
feet, used for sweetmeats. (For the form itself in another
ware, and additional information concerning it, see Group
9, 38.) The cross in the center is typically Nestorian (see
also 49). Although the cross in a simple form appears
often in Islamic decoration (see 71, 72), the Nestorian
cross is rare. That the present motif is truly a Christian
one is confirmed by the discovery in Nishapur after 1940
of a bowl (now in the MIB) decorated with eight such
crosses and an inscription in Syriac, the language of the
Nestorian church, begging the mercy of God (Wilkinson
in Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens^ p. 82, fig. 4). For the
appearance of a Christian cross in the unglazed ware of
Nishapur, see Group 12, 200.
The vertical wall of 48 is decorated with a simulated
16
Buff Ware
Kufic inscription, the presence of which with a Christian
symbol is not inconsistent. The inscription is probably a
debased version of the Arabic word barakeh (blessing);
the tops of the letters point toward the bottom of the dish,
and here and there small circles with a central dot and
blob of green have been added. The same style of inscrip-
tion occurs in the animate buff ware (64, 73, 78, 87, 91).
The ground of the interior of 48 is painted yellow; other-
wise the piece has been left buff under its glaze. The dish
that once adjoined it had a different decoration on the in-
terior: a series of joined curved brackets, each with a ver-
tical stroke down the center. This motif is often seen on
the exterior of vessels of the animate group. On the sur-
viving junction of the dishes are parallel strokes of black,
suggesting a binding together. Like 47, 48 represents an
intermediate type between the two groups of buff ware. It
was undoubtedly made by the potters who produced the
animate rather than the inanimate ware.
49 INKWELL
D 7.7, H 5.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.296
Another piece intermediate between the inanimate and
animate groups. The Nestorian cross (discussed at 48)
appears on the vertical face of each round corner and
again, smaller, on the top surface of each corner. Yellow
is applied liberally on the buff ground. A marblelike ball
of clay was found inside the piece: perhaps a device to
stir the ink.
50 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 7.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
Unlike the preceding three pieces, definitely an example
of the inanimate group. The decoration, consisting of
lanceolate forms on a broadly hatched ground, bordered
by a band of slanting lines, is unusual. The sharply
everted rim is yellow; yellow and green blobs appear else-
where. The outcurved rim and the broad line painted
upon it suggest a relationship with 35. Found beneath a
lowxst-level piaster floor, thus clearly of the ninth century.
51 BOWL
D 11.2, H 5.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A thinner-turned piece than usual in the inanimate group.
The typical straplike bands are green; the square at their
intersection is yellow. The area around each cluster of
dotted circles is yellow\ The decoration on the exterior
consists of stripes, alternately yellow and green, contain-
ing slanting strokes in green.
In addition to these small bowls that easily could have
been used for drinking, a handled cup was retrieved from
1:3
a low-level well in Tepe Madraseh, its interior irregularly
splashed with yellow and green spots.
52 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 15 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.503
Bone-colored engobe. The base, which has a groove near
the edge, is glazed. The wide flare of the sides is char-
acteristic of the group of bowls with animate decoration
(compare especially 74). The shape does not appear
among the pieces published as excavated at Afrasiyab.
The rim pattern consists of small double circles and leaves
growing from curved stems. The rays painted on the w^all
are, in sequence, green, black, yellowy black, red, black.
Judging by the remains, the decoration on the bottom,
painted on a yellow ground, included a bird or two. The
exterior is decorated with closed curved brackets in the
manner of 87, without the intervening motif of slanting
strokes. The base has a groove and bevel forming a foot
ring. Several more bowls with such rays on their interior
walls have been found since 1940; one in private posses-
sion has a bottom decorated with a horse, above which
appears a small animal.
53 DISH
D 12.2, H 5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Another piece, like 47, having the qualities of both groups
of buff ware. Characteristic of the inanimate group is the
division of the design by means of straight lines crossing
at the center, though here the sectors are an unusual six.
The spiral curve seen at the inner corner of one of the
sectors occurs in other bowls of the inanimate group. The
chevron in the corner of the adjacent sector is found in
both the inanimate and animate groups, in the first
chiefly as a rim decoration, in the second chiefly as an
adornment on the necks of birds and animals. A variation
of this particular chevron is to be seen on the bottom of a
Buff Ware
17
Nishapur buff ware bowl in the Metropolitan (40.170.692).
The motif is also to be seen on tenth-century bowls of a
similar ware found in Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 244,
fig, 15). The enclosed palmette on the wall of 53 is a char-
acteristic device in the animate group; for its use as a
bird's tail, see 62. Unlike the chevron, which in the pot-
tery of Nishapur is seen only in the buff ware, this palm-
ette occurs in another ware, the polychrome on white
(Group 4, 49). The decoration on the exterior of 53 is
like that of 59, a bowl of the animate group.
54 JAR
D 5.9, H 7.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 39.40.19
Yellow is splashed on the background. Green appears on
the broad circles within the purplish black rims of the
rosettes. This crude piece may have served as a lamp, even
though, generally speaking, lamps seem not to have been
made in buff ware.
55 DISH
D 10.3, H 4 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Flat base. Everted, flat lip, unusual in Nishapur pottery.
One of several small dishes with a minimum of decoration,
here consisting of radial lines with a short supplementary
stroke in one sector and a blob of yellow or green in the
next. The exterior is without decoration.
56 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 8.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
1:3
An atypical piece. The cross, in reserve on black, is filled
with spots, suggesting a connection with 19. The hatch-
ing, although it is finer, recalls that on 50. Found at a low,
ninth-century level.
57 DISH FRAGMENT
W 10 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
For discussion of the rim decoration, see 1, Splashes of
green and yellow have been added to the black outlines.
Perhaps made in the same pottery as 26 and 36. Found
with 50. Ninth century.
58 DISH FRAGMENT
W 8.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The animate group of buff ware includes such small
pieces as this, on which the bird has a petaled collar simi-
lar to that of the birds on 74. Its unusual crest, composed
of two triangles, suggests a pheasant's spurs (compare 79).
The ground is filled mainly with simulated Kufic, with
chevrons in the spaces at the rim. Base slightly concave.
59 BOWt
D 30, H 9.2 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.290
(Color Plate 2, page xiii)
1:3
Bone-colored engobe. As in many of the vessels decorated
with animate subjects, much of the ground is covered with
yellow. The principal element of the design is a standing
human figure, perhaps a young man. The sex of the fig-
ures on other such bowls is likewise uncertain. The wear-
ing of a skirt does not eliminate the possibility that this is
meant to be a male figure. For example, of the four heavily
bearded figures on a buff ware bowl in the Cleveland Mu-
seum of Art (Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics^ pi. 26), two
wear skirts. The beardless face of 59 is somewhat angular,
the top of the head flat, the forehead extremely wide. The
gauntness of this face and of others in the bufiP ware (62,
64-66, 68) is at variance with the life-size painting of a
male head that once formed part of the decoration in a
house in Sabz Pushan (Hauser, Upton 8c Wilkinson,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ November, 1938,
p. 9, fig. 8). On the other hand, a female head from the
same wall painting (ibid., fig. 7) has the abnormally wide
forehead of the buff ware figures. The eyes of the figure
on 59 are placed close together. This closeness, typical of
early Islamic representations of the human face, is com-
mon in the bone or ivory representations of human figures
that have been found in Islamic sites from Egypt to Sam-
arkand. The brows, strongly drawn, have what may have
been intended as a tattoo spot between them. The space be-
tween the brows was, of course, a favorite one for decora-
tion. An early example is to be seen on a gold pendant
from Cyprus in the Metropolitan (74.51.3397; Oliver,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ May, 1966, p. 272,
fig. 6) ; this is either an imported piece or it shows a strong
18
Buff Ware
orientalizing influence. A number of faces in Sasanian
metalwork, both male and female, have such marks (Shep-
herd, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, April, 1964,
p. 85, fig. 21). Variants of the mark seen here occur on
buff ware bowls found since 1940, One, which undoubt-
edly comes from Nishapur, shows two seated women with
a triangle of three dots between their brows {Medieval Near
Eastern Ceramics^ fig. 5). A face with a tattoo mark be-
tween the brows occurs also in the mold-made unglazed
ware of Nishapur (Group 12, 179). The wings of the nose
on 59 are indicated by two down -sloping lines, a very dif-
ferent treatment from that to be seen on other pieces, al-
most surely found in Nishapur since 1940, in which the
nose ends in a trefoil {Exposition d^art musulman Cata-
logue, pi. ii) ; the trefoil nose was also used by the makers
of monochrome luster pottery of the tenth century (P^-
zard, Ceramiquep pi. cxiv). The mouth of the figure on 59,
quite small, is drawn ambiguously; either it is meant to
appear open or it has been outlined with no division be-
tween the lips. As a whole, the countenance offers a great
contrast to the soft, heavy -cheeked, moonlike faces that
appeared in Persian Seljuq art of the eleventh century and
continued after the Mongol conquest.
The figure rests one hand on its hip. In the other it
holds a tall ornamented goblet. The object was once
thought to be a scimitar, but certain bowls with similar
figures found since 1940 — for example, one in the Mu-
seum of Fine Arts, Boston, decorated with a seated female
figure — confirm that this is indeed a goblet and that its
curved shape is simply the result of poor drawing.
The figure's dress is of a type that was unknown in
Islamic art until the discovery of this particular bowl, and
thus far it has been duplicated only on other buff ware
bowls from Nishapur. The upper part of the body is cov-
ered with a jacket that has a narrow collar and tight-fitting
sleeves. The sleeves are deeply slit on one side, the edges
bound. The edges of the jacket, also bound, overlap and
have prominent lapels, each decorated with a group of
three spots. Lapels of larger size, although not precisely
of this shape, apparently originated in Central Asia,
where they appear in paintings of the seventh to ninth
centuries (A. Griinwedel, Altbuddkistiscke Kultstdtten in
Chinesischturkistan^ Berlin, 1912, figs. 116, 334, 426). The
lower part of the body is covered by a skirt or apron so
drawn that it appears to be rolled at the top. The decora-
tion of this garment consists of lozenges formed by inter-
secting lines. Each lozenge contains a smaller one divided
into four and dotted. Silk cloth so decorated was made in
China. The motif appears in a wall painting in Chotscho
(Le Coq, Chotscho^ pi. 40B) and in wall paintings in the
palace of Idyqutshahri in Turfan (Griinwedel, Altbud-
dhistische Kulstdtten in Chinesischturkistan, Berlin, 1912,
fig. 665). These lozenges, contained within overlapping
circles, appear in an eighth-century wall painting as the
ornament on a girPs dress (Hamilton, Khirhat at Mafjar^
p. 234, fig. 178). Such lozenges also occur on a silver bowl
of the eighth century (Ghirshman, Ars Orientalis^ II, pi. 4,
fig. 7), in wall paintings of the ninth century at Samarra,
(Herzfeld, Die Malereien von Samarra^ pi. xli), and
on underglaze painted bowls found in Syria (Lane, Ar-
chaeologiuy LXXXVII, pi. xix). Finally, in the buff ware
itself, the lozenge device appears in the exterior decora-
tion of 63 and 86. A broad band of green at the hem com-
pletes the decoration of the skirt on 59. Beneath the skirt
long drawers appear, and below these, shoes, drawn in an
unrealistic fashion with exaggerated heels and the rest of
the foot narrow and pronglike. This form of shoe, which
also occurs in representations of horsemen (62), is to be
found on a tenth-century monochrome luster bowl from
Rayy, showing a man wearing jackboots (Pezard, Cerami-
que, pi, cxvii), and on a tenth-century monochrome luster
bowl of Iraq (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 13A).
An extraordinary feature, seen only in the buff ware
representations of human figures, is the scarf with bifur-
cated tails. This would seem, on 59, to be fastened in
place with a cord or band, one end of which, halfway
down the figure's right arm, is decorated with a cross in
reserve. This motif is balanced on the other shoulder by
a circular form, also with a cross in reserve, that appears
to be a shoulder-length curl of the figure's hair. That hair
was worn with a terminal curl at the shoulder is apparent
on a luster painted bowl of the tenth century (Pope, Sur-
vey, V, pi. 577). Other vessels confirm the intention of the
Nishapur artist to portray something other than hair de-
scending from the shoulders. This is particularly clear on
one of the Nishapur vessels mentioned above in other
connections, the bowl illustrated as plate il in the Expo-
sition d'^art musulman Catalogue, and also on a bowl in
the City Art Museum, St. Louis, showing a definitely male
figure, with a heavy black line indicating his beard. Wear-
ing a skirt and bifurcated scarf, the figure stands with
arms akimbo. His hair descends to his shoulders and ends
in a curl on which a crosslike motif appears in reserve. A
cross in reserve also appears on one tail of his scarf (Wil-
kinson in Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens^ p. 84, fig. 7). On
the other hand, an example of complete confusion be-
tween the hair and scarf is to be seen on the seated, heav-
ily bearded figures on a Nishapur bowl cited earlier (Wil-
kinson, Iranian Ceramics^ pi. 26). Here the line of the
hair descends to the shoulder unbroken except by what
might be considered an earring. The black hair, seemingly
without a break, then joins the two tails that descend be-
low the outstretched arms on either side. The other fig-
ures on this bowl, also bearded, have hair that ends in a
curl at the nape of the neck, and they have no capes.
Flanking the figure are two large birds, remarkable for
their upcurved beaks and long flowing crests. As is cus-
tomary in the representation of birds and animals in the
buff ware, their heads and necks are in reserve. The rest
of the bowl's surface is filled with a scattering of small
circles containing a dot, open hearts, palmettelike shapes,
bracketlike shapes, and rosettes with double outlines.
Such a rosette is also to be found in the inanimate group :
47, central motif. Several of these motifs are joined to-
Buff Ware
19
gether, either in a straight line (the group above the gob-
let) or at a right angle (the group to the right of the fig-
ure's head). This linking of disparate motifs, as can be
seen in the drawings, is found in Nishapur only in the an-
imate group of the buff ware. However, the practice is
known elsewhere, for example, in Central Asia in the cave
paintings of Bazalik, where flower and leaf forms, arbi-
trarily joined, are scattered on the background (A. Griin-
wedel, Altbuddhistische Kultstdtten in Chinesischturkistan^
Berlin, 1912, figs. 556, 561, 580; Le Coq, Chotscho, pis. 17,
26, 29). The motif placed between the foot of the goblet
and the top of the bird's head is particularly reminiscent
of such Central Asian forms.
A line of pseudo Kufic, roughly indicated, appears to
the right of the figure. No sizable area of the surface is left
undecorated, the usual style in the animate group. The
decoration on the exterior consists of two motifs alternat-
ing: a circle containing a spot, and a group of three super-
imposed triangles with color in the spaces between them.
The base, concave, is glazed. Tenth century.
Although this is the only complete bowl decorated with
a single standing figure that was found by the Museum's
expedition, 67 and 70 are doubtless the remains of related
bowls. Several similar bowls are now known, undoubtedly
from Nishapur and perhaps all from the same potter's
shop. The bowl in the City Art Museum, St. Louis, al-
ready mentioned, was surely made by the same hand that
made 59, for in addition to the general resemblance, the
figures' noses end in the same distinctive way. On an-
other of the bowls mentioned above {Exposition d^artmus-
ulman Catalogue, pi. ii), the figure is posed like that of 59
but in its right hand holds what seems to be a fruit (a dark
green spot obscures the drawing). On a related bowl in a
private collection the figure's head is in profile, and in its
right hand, in the tips of its fingers, is a fruit, round at the
bottom and pointed at the top, out of which grows an
elaborate decoration, A vase, once in the Matossian collec-
tion, is decorated with four men wearing boots and leg-
gings, sitting cross-legged. Their hair ends distinctly in
large circular bunches decorated with six-petaled rosettes,
and below this, on both sides of the arms, the bifurcated
scarf shows clearly. Still another pose, in which a man
stands with both hands upraised (compare 70), occurs on
a bowl in Copenhagen (letter to author) ; on this the man
has a crown above, not on, his head, and in each hand he
holds a leafy stem. Much the same pose occurs on still
another bowl in a private collection; here the man's up-
raised hands are empty and his index fingers point up-
ward. In all of these bowls the significance of the figures
remains uncertain. Something more may be intended in
59 than a representation of the simple act of drinking:
perhaps a symbolic quaffing of wine, a ceremony with a
long history among the pre-Islamic Turks, Scythians, and
Islamic Turks (Esin, Ars Orientalis^ V, p. 152, fig. 8;
lakubovski. Paintings of Ancient Pendzhikenty pi. x; Sarre,
Die Kunst des Alien Persien^ pi. 109).
60 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 19 (approx.), H 6.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
The glaze is eroded. The principal decoration, unique in
the pottery of Nishapur, consists of four long-necked ani-
mal heads joined to make a swastikalike figure. The horns
of two of the heads extend upward, forming pear shapes.
The horns of the alternate heads ascend, curl downward,
and point upward again as half-palmettes. The four necks
are decorated with the chevronlike collars that occur on
many of the animals and birds in this ware. The motif of
animal heads joined together in a swastika is one that goes
back to remote antiquity. It appears in Scythian art of
about the fourth century B.C. (E. A. Minns, Scythians and
Greeks^ Cambridge, 1913, fig. 57). Clustered around the
swastika on 60 are small birds, Kufic pseudo inscriptions,
a variety of leaf forms, and small circles containing a dot.
Some of these circles are grouped, others occur singly.
Both forms are common in the animate group. The "in-
scriptions" are in two styles, both frequent in the animate
group: a large outline form (on which comment is made
at 63) and a smaller "lettering" on a base line. One of the
subsidiary motifs is in the form of a spiral extending out-
ward as two opposed half-leaves. For the use of a similar
motif as a major decoration in the inanimate ware, see 37,
The center of the lozenge is partly obscured by a blob of
yellow. The exterior decoration of 60 consists of biconvex
forms like those to be seen on 74.
20
Buff Ware
61 BOWL
D 17.7, H 6.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.87
1:3
In poor condition, showing evidence of having been in a
fire. However, the glaze has not spalled. The decoration
features four horned animals, one standing on each side
of a central square, an artistic conception that goes back
many centuries in Iran. It is to be seen, for example, on
the base of a gold bowl ascribed to the late second millen-
nium B.C. found in Hasanlu (Dyson, Archaeology^ 13, p.
124). Scattered over the background are plant forms with
small circular flowers, the typical dotted circles in groups
of four, small lines of chevrons (an unusual feature), and
some pseudo Kufic. Yellow and green have been applied
sparingly. The decoration on the exterior consists of ver-
tical rows of herringbone alternating with a unit of two
concentric lozenges. The inner lozenge is filled with green,
the outer, yellow in every other unit. The base, which is
glazed, is concave, with a groove semicircular in section,
near the center.
62 a,b BOWL
D 38, H 11.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish buff body, bone-colored surface. Base, slightly
concave, has a groove forming a foot ring. Most of the in-
terior surface is covered with yellow. The dominant fea-
ture is a man with drawn sword astride a horse, both por-
trayed in profile. The man has a flat-topped head and very
wide forehead (compare 59). His eye is large. His brow is
drawn with a thin single line that continues to the thick
line that represents his beard and defines his jaw. Be-
neath his brow is a second line, a continuation of the eye
itself. This striking feature, a surely unrelated parallel to
an ancient Egyptian fashion of eye decoration, seems to
occur for the first time in Iranian art in this Nishapur
buff ware- The bottom of the man's cheek is indicated by
a curving line, a device that contributes to the character-
istic gauntness of the Nishapur faces (compare 64, 66).
His hair, which ends in a projecting roll well above his
shoulders, is adorned with flowerets in reserve, touched
with color. Since similar flowerets appear on the horse's
hooves, they are probably simply a decorative convention,
not a representation of actual blossoms, A row of four
spiral curls crosses the man's forehead. Like the flower-
ets, these were probably added purely for decorative pur-
poses, not in conformity with reality. But these details are
only the beginning of the potter's artistic license. The
horseman's shirt, decorated with small crosses, has one
sleeve deeply slit, its edges bound, as on 59. The other
sleeve, bound at the cuff but not slit, is decorated in a
wholly diff*erent manner, with large spots. The collar of
the shirt is drawn in such a fashion that it appears to be
rolled. The breeches, adorned with a pattern of squares,
disappear into a black legging ornamented with a half-
palmette in reserve. There is no connection between the
legging, which is perhaps made of leather, and the shoe;
the separation is emphasized, in fact, by the presence of a
reserve border around the legging (compare 64, 71). Leg
gear of this type, which seems to be represented in Nish-
apur only in the tenth-century buff ware, calls to mind
the high boots seen in a painting among the frescoes at
Bazalik, Central Asia, in which they are worn by kneeling
Tocharian merchants (Seyrig, Syria, XVIII, p. 12, pi. ii,
lower). There is a suggestion in this painting that a cord
was sometimes used to suspend such a boot from the
wxarer's belt. Leggings go back to Sasanian times, as is
1:3
indicated by their appearance on a Sasanian bronze in-
cense burner in the form of a horse and rider on which
the legging is left plain and the foot is covered with spots
(Pope, Survey^ IV, pi. 240 A). The leggings also occur on
a Sasanian silver plate (Smirnov, Argenterie orieniale^ pi.
cxxi, no. 306). The excessively slender shoe of 62 (com-
pare 59) is of a type found in seventh- and eighth-century
paintings of horsemen in Pendzhikent (M. Bussagli, Paint-
ing of Central Asia, Geneva, 1963, pp. 44, 45). The ring-
Buff Ware
21
like stirrup of 62 is suspended from a strap ; the space be-
tween this strap and the legging is filled with the same
crosses that appear on the rider's shirt, but since this is
simply a space, the treatment points to the artist's pre-
occupation with putting small decorations everywhere,
without relation to reality. The horseman's straight-bladed
sword, a type known in the Sasanian period, has a hilt
that terminates at either end in a large V-shape. This
type of hilt was in use among the people who in earlier
centuries ranged from the heart of Asia to the plains of
Hungary (Fettich, Archaeologia Hungarica^ XV, pi. vii).
Whether its indication on 62 reflects the presence of such
weapons in Nishapur cannot be determined; its represen-
tation may be due simply to an iconographic tradition.
The horse is quite as fantastic as the man. It is black
except for its face and the decoration with which its body
and legs are lavishly covered; these areas are in reserve,
spotted with color. The horse's eye is treated like the
rider's, two parallel lines continuing beyond it for a con-
siderable distance. (This form of eye is also to be seen in
some of the Nishapur ware decorated with yellow-staining
black — for example, a piece mentioned on page 215.) The
horse's tail is tied, a continuation of a Sasanian custom
exemplified in a silver bowl of the time of Peroz I (457-
483) in the Metropolitan (34.33). Other Sasanian bowls
showing horses with tied tails (Pope, Survey^ IV, pis. 209-
214) are in the Hermitage Museum, the Bibliotheque Na-
tionale, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Freer Gallery
of Art. The decorations on the horse's fore- and hind-
quarters consist of curling stems ending in palmettes. Two
of these palmettes are enclosed in heart shapes. The curve
of the stems is broken by little leaved excrescences similar
in style to some in the Nishapur polychrome on white
ware (Group 4, 56, 58). They also appear on Nishapur
architectural elements : polychromed plaster squinch mem-
bers found in Sabz Pushan (Hauser, Upton &: Wilkinson,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, November, 1938, p.
7, figs. 5, 6). These excrescences occur also in the glazed
pottery of Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 234, fig, 9, p. 244,
fig. 15). They are likewise to be seen on a bronze salver
representing an arcaded building (Pope, Survey^ IV, pi.
237), a piece originally published as Sasanian but now
considered by some to be of a later date.
Poised on the horse's rump is an animal resembling a
cheetah. Cheetahs were used in Iran for hunting, but the
animal seen here apparently attends someone other than
a hunter, for one does not hunt with a sword. Although
the horsemen in this group from the Museum's excava-
tions seem invariably to be carrying swords, bowls in other
museums, almost certainly from Nishapur, depict polo
players (Jakobsen, Islamische Keramik Exhibition Cata-
logue, fig. 3; Erdmann, Pantheon^ XVIII, p. 164). Polo
was a favorite subject in later times, and representations
of it are to be seen in both luster and minai ware of the
Seljuq period.
With crested head and ^Ving," the animal on 62 looks
supernatural. This interpretation is perhaps supported by
the fact that other bowls have been found since 1940 on
which the major element is a riderless horse with an even
more fantastic animal placed above it. In some of these
representations, as on 86, a fragment probably from the
same workshop as 62, the animal appears with a beak and
a leaflike tail. On one particular version the body is cov-
ered with scalelike forms. All these cheetahlike creatures
may perhaps be considered survivors, in a debased form,
of mythological animals depicted in Iranian art as far back
as the first millennium B.C. These early animals are some-
times depicted with wings, sometimes with birdlike heads
(A. Godard, Le Tresor de Ziwiye^ Haarlem, 1950, fig. 21).
In paintings of the seventh century a.d. a winged lionlike
creature is represented (lakubovski, Paintings of Ancient
Pendzhikent^ p. 93, fig. 21).
The ground of 62 is filled with horned animals, birds,
and an assortment of ornamental motifs. As is customary,
the animals and birds are represented as of the same size.
This treatment seems to be an inheritance from the Sasa-
nian period, for it occurs on a Sasanian seal portraying a
hare and an ibex (Pope, Survey^ IV, pi. 256 D). (For a
similar treatment in tenth-century monochrome luster
ware, see Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. cxxi.) Except for their
heads and necks, which are in reserve, the animals and
birds are painted black. As is the case on numerous other
bowls, the necks of both are decorated with collars, those
of the animals made chevronlike. One animal, seen just
above the horse's raised foreleg, has a curled band in re-
serve descending from its collar. This happens to be a
poor version of a decoration often seen on both animals
and birds in this group (63, 64, 73, 79, 81, 83, 86, 88). It
is probably present simply to break up the dark mass of
the animal's body. The band is also to be seen on birds in
two other wares (Group 3, 10; Group 6, 48). Another dis-
tinctive detail on 62 is the group of dots placed at the ears
and tails of the animals. Here the groups are of four dots;
on comparable pieces (63, 74) they are of three. This
motif is also to be found on objects of earlier date, for ex-
ample, on a post-Sasanian silver vessel, where it is used
in conjunction with plants (Smirnov, Argenterie orientate^
pis. LXXV, LXXVl).
The birds of 62, even less realistic than those of 59,
have crests composed of three balls on short stems, sug-
gesting that they may be peacocks. Their tails consist
either of three parallel lines ending at different lengths in
triangular forms (compare 79, 82) or, in one instance, of
a large inverted pear shape or wing shape, the pointed
tip of which is attached to the pointed tip of the body.
This added shape, which seems not to be an integral part
of the bird, is decorated with a palmette (compare 74, 76,
77). Birds with added tails of this shape but decorated in-
stead with peacock eyes appear in the polychrome on
white ware of Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, '^Afrasiyab," pi.
XXIII, top, right), but the bodies and heads of the Afra-
siyab birds are unlike those of Nishapur. Tails of some-
what similar shape, but drawn to suggest a wing, are to
be seen on glazed earthenware bowls excavated at Merv
22
Buff Ware
(Lunina, Trudy ^ XI, p. 249, fig. 17). This use of a pointed
pear shape for a tail goes back to the portrayal of peacocks
in the Sasanian period (Smirnov, Argenterie orientale^
pL Lxxii). Although the birds on the Nishapur bowls
seem intended as peacocks, it should be noted that a
monochrome luster bowl of the tenth century (Pope,
Survey^ V, pi. 576 C) shows a ducklike bird with a tail of
the same shape, painted solid.
The subsidiary ornament of 62 ranges from the simple
dot in circle motif to clusters of dotted circles wdth added
projecting elements. Among these is a cluster of four, con-
structed from a figure eight with a semicircle added at the
sides. This method of drawing the motif is evident where-
ever it occurs. Common in the animate buff w^are, it is
also found in the ware decorated with yellow-staining
black (Group 8, 13). Spaced unevenly around the rim of
62 are four groups of boldly painted, meaningless Kufic
letters, their bases at the rim, and repeated among the
other motifs is a conventional form of the word barakeh
(blessing) drawn on a thin base line. This word, so drawn,
appears on many of the animate bowls (63, 74, 76, 79, 86).
The decoration on the exterior (62b) consists of pointed
vertical shapes composed of joined curved brackets alter-
nating with vertical lines of herringbone. The pointed
shapes are colored alternately green and yellow. The con-
trast between a complex, agitated design on the interior
and a static, repetitious design on the exterior is typical
of the animate group.
Another bowl, 86, was doubtless made in the same
workshop.
63 a,b BOWL (reconstruction)
D 37.3, H 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40,170.622a, b
Some of the fragments of this bowl are in the Teheran
museum. The engobe varies from buff to bone. The base,
which has a foot ring, is not glazed. Much of the decora-
tion is in reserve: the bird and leafy forms ending in
palmettes in the central medallion and, near the rim, the
undulating stem bearing trilobed half-leaves. This use of
black on a buff or bone engobe is common in the animate
group, either in particular areas, as here, or over most of
the interior. The leafy forms filling the space above and
below the bird closely resemble those seen on the body of
the horse in 62; furthermore, the horned animals encir-
cling the wall resemble those on 62. For comment on the
band projecting rearward from each animaPs chevron col-
lar, see 62. The small subsidiary motifs — clusters of dotted
circles, thin-lined barakehs^ and groups of dots at the ani-
mals' horns and tails — are all to be seen on the previous
piece. In addition, there is present a large version of the
word barakeh^ reduced to two letters and drawn in out-
line. One of the letters, apparently a kaf^ is drawn in mir-
ror writing. This particular form, which occurs on several
of the animate bowls (65, 77, 80, 86), is also to be seen in
the opaque white ware (Group 6, 11, 13, 17). The band
of trilobed leaves near the rim of 63 occurs on other ani-
mate bowls (66, 91) as well as on one of the inanimate
bowls (1). It is to be found, too, in a similar ware of Merv,
painted in a similar way, in reserve in a band of black (Lu-
nina, Trudy^ XI, p. 249, fig. 17). At the rim of 63 two small
motifs alternate: a pair of superimposed triangles and a
device of dotted circles. The decoration on the exterior
(63b) consists of two horizontal bands of herringbone en-
closing a decoration of lozenges, sharp-pointed biconvex
forms, and dotted circles.
64 BOWL
D 22.5, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.14
1:3
Buff body and surface. Glaze almost disintegrated. Base,
concave, has groove forming foot ring; it is covered with
engobe and glaze. Exterior decoration: joined curved
brackets resembling those to be seen on 74, On the in-
terior the central figure is that of a man, his head in pro-
file, drinking from a goblet. Although the pose suggests
that he is dancing, he is in truth seated. This position, in
which the legs form a lozenge shape, seems to be an adap-
tation of an early iconographical tradition. The pose oc-
curs on Bactrian coins. In Sasanian examples the space
between the legs is not always present, A silver plate of the
sixth or seventh century, on which the figure represents a
moon god, shows the legs closely crossed, leaving no space
(Pope, Survey^ IV, pi. 207 B). On the other hand, figures
more or less contemporary with the one on this Nishapur
bowl were sometimes represented with their feet nearly
touching but not crossing (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^
pi. 13A).
The breeches of the man on 64, decorated with groups
of connected circles, have, over each knee, a strange
^^patch" with double outline, decorated wdth crosses. Such
^^patches" are not found on the breeches of Nishapur
equestrian figures, only on those of seated figures. The
practice of changing the decoration from area to area, ir-
respective of their fundamental meanings, is characteristic
of this ware (compare 62, decoration of space between leg-
ging and stirrup strap). The knee patches can be ex-
plained as a misunderstanding by the potters of older,
more accurate images. One of these correct versions, per-
haps of the eighth century, occurs on a painted wooden
votive tablet from Dandan Oiluq (Khotan), in which the
body garment of a cross-legged bodhisattva, partly con-
Buff Ware
23
cealed by an outer coat, reappears on his knees, just above
his high boots (M. A. Stein, Ancient Khotan^ II, Oxford,
1907, pL LXi; M. Bussagli, Painting of Central Asia, Ge-
neva, 1963, p. 57). This representation would appear to
conform to reaHty w^hen a figure is so dressed and so posed.
In the tenth century, however, when their origin had been
forgotten, the rounded or oval shapes between the boots
and garments were decorated arbitrarily, as on 64. One
example among several of such patches in the buff ware of
Nishapur occurs on a bowl in the Cleveland Museum of
Art (Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics, pi. 26), where they ap-
pear on the breeches of two bearded men sitting cross-
legged, as on 64, and with even less rationality, on the
skirts of two bearded men sitting on stools. This confu-
sion is paralleled on a gold medallion in the Freer Gallery,
probably a Buwayhid piece, on which a male figure has a
decoration of concentric circles upon his knees (Bahrami
in Archaeologica Orientalia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld,
pi. la).
The head of the man on 64 is remarkable for its very
large eye. The lips, chin, cheekline, beard, forehead curls,
and decorated hair are all reminiscent of the figure on 62.
A bifurcated scarf (compare 59) descends from either
shoulder, so drawn that there is confusion as to what is
scarf and what is hair. The scarf has an added decoration
of rectangular forms in reserve, probably present simply
to break up its black areas. Two round curls (?) appear
just below the man's left shoulder. There is almost a sug-
gestion that he wears a veil fastened to the back of his
head. Some figures on Abbasid luster ware have pointed
caps with a long veil or scarf falling behind almost to the
ground; however, the relationship is not close enough to
support a belief that the figure of 64 wears a veil.
The figure's tight-fitting shirtlike garment, with no
opening visible in front, is decorated with a herringbone
pattern. His leggings and shoes resemble those of the fig-
ure on 62; see further comment there. For comment on
the possible significance of the lifted goblet, see 59.
The spaces around the figure are filled with a variety of
ornamental motifs, lightly indicated, and two birds, their
bodies decorated with a version of the curled band also
seen in 62 and 63. Surrounding the central medallion is a
band of pseudo Kufic, decorated with dot-centered circles.
This ^^inscription" is similar in style to the pseudo Kufic
on other animate bowls (73, 78, 87, 91) and an inanimate
piece (48). At the rim of 64 is a band of black with a series
of half-leaves in reserve, all of them placed above the stem,
unlike the treatment of a similar decoration on 63.
65 DISH FRAGMENT
D of dish (estimated) 26, H 4.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
This piece, representing a type that was made occasion-
ally in Nishapur, originally had four short feet. The male
figure drawn on the bottom probably sat cross-legged,
either with both hands raised or with his right hand rest-
ing on his thigh. His head, with its heavy, arched eye-
brows and fiercely upturned and curled mustaches, is
unique. So too is the stiffly curled pigtail, which was per-
haps balanced by another on the other side of the head,
where it would have had to curl in the opposite direction.
But although pigtails have not been found on other Nish-
apur vessels, they have a long history in the Near East,
appearing in Elamite stone reliefs of the third millennium
B.C. (Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East^ p. 188, fig. 304).
In Central Asia artificial pigtails as well as natural ones
have long been known (Yetts, Burlington Magazine, April,
1926, p. 173). On other Nishapur vessels what may at first
seem to be pigtails is really the tailed scarf seen on 59, 64,
66, The hare on 65, holding a paw to its mouth, although
a strange conception, is not unique in the buff ware. It is
hard to believe that the animal's pose is anything more
than an artistic conceit. For another fantastic treatment
of a hare, see 80.
66 BOWL
D 16, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madrasah
MIB
In poor condition, stained beneath the glaze. In contrast
to the pose on 65, the man's feet are entirely concealed
beneath his dress. His profile face has been drawn so that
his nose and mouth are eliminated. The cheekline is a
variant of those on 62, 64. On many of the poorly drawn
bowls of this ware the profile heads are portrayed in this
manner, with the eye drawn as though seen full face and
the nose barely indicated. On a bowl in the William Rock-
hill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, the nose, as on 66,
is entirely absent. On 66 the man's hair clearly ends at his
shoulder, but the bifurcated scarf that falls from either
shoulder suggests, because of its wavy contours, that he
has pigtails — a confusion also seen on 59 and 64. The sug-
gestion of pigtails is even stronger on a bowl in the Mu-
seum of Fine Arts, Boston, doubtless from Nishapur, on
which the figure is female. The figure on 66 holds a wand
in each hand. These end in a cluster of four dotted circles ;
the one in his right hand has horizontal branches ending
in dotted circles. Other bowls found since 1940 have fig-
ures holding leaved stems (Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics,
pi. 26). In Central Asian paintings of about two centuries
earlier than these bowls (Le Coq, Chotscho^ pis. 12, 16, 30;
lakubovski, Paintings of Ancient Pendzhikent, pi. xxxvii;
M. BussagJi, Painting of Central Asia^ Geneva, 1963, pp.
105-107, 112), both male and female figures hold stems
of a more graceful nature. The carrying of flower stems
continued for centuries; see, for example, a miniature of a
prince by Sultan Muhammad in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston (Kiihnel, Islamische Kleinkunst^ p. 55, fig. 22).
24
Buff Ware
67 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A portion of a bowl that probably resembled 59 but with a
different decoration on the skirt.
68 FRAGMENT
W 5.6 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.702
Pale buff engobe. It would appear that there were once
two human figures on this piece. What their relationship
was is not clear. Only the bent arm of the larger figure
remains. The eye of the smaller figure, with its extended
lines, is reminiscent of the horseman's eye on 62. The
ground, from which all glaze has disappeared, is com-
pletely covered with yellow. The decoration on the ex-
terior is like that on 74b, but with vertical strokes in
every unit.
69 DISH FRAGMENT (rim)
W 6.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.577
The ground is colored yellow\ The decoration shows part
of a human head covered with short curls in a style unlike
that of the figures previously seen. Another unusual fea-
ture is the line of small circles parallel to what remains of
the figure's sword. The sword itself is the straight-bladed
Sasanian type to be seen on 62 and 71. The ground is
filled with the usual clusters of dotted circles (compare
62, 63). The exterior is decorated at the rim with joined
curved brackets, alternately yellow and plain (or possibly
once green). In the latter a dash appears between two dots.
70 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
The subject, a standing man, has both hands upraised.
He wears a belt to which two straps are attached, perhaps
to hold a sword. On his left upper arm is an indication of
a brassard. His scarf, decorated with circular spots in re-
serve, is divided into three tails on either side instead of
the customary two. For discussion of related pieces, see
59. Little of the background decoration remains, though
enough to confirm the presence of two common motifs:
the dotted circle and a variant of the pseudo-Kufic in-
scription seen on 63, 65, 79, 80, and 86. A buff ware bowl
in the Metropolitan (65.270.1), presumably from Nisha-
pur, show^s the same peculiar decoration of circular spots
in reserve on a cloak; in both this and 70 the potter was
possibly confused as to what was hair and what garment.
In a wall painting at Bazalik the hair of a seated deva is
decorated in the same fashion, with a series of circles in
reserve (M. Bussagli, Painting of Central Asia, Geneva,
1963, p. 99).
71 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 8.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A horseman brandishing a straight-bladed Sasanian-type
sword in his left hand (compare 62, 69). Probably he had
a shield in his right hand, as does a horseman on a buff
ware fragment, presumably from Nishapur, in the Berlin
Museum (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ X, p. 11, fig. 12).
The subject of a horseman with sword in one hand and
shield in the other also occurs in monochrome luster ware
{Olsen Collection of Persian Pottery, sale catalogue, Sotheby
&: Co., June 8, 1964, no. 46, illus.).
The binding of the figure's tunic, which overlaps, is
drawn in such a way that it resembles Kufic, and the lower
part of the saddle cloth is covered with a repeat motif sug-
gesting a Kufic letter. The decorative motif on the rider's
sleeve, consisting of four balls connected by several lines,
is reminiscent of small ornamental devices that appear on
some of the ware decorated with ye]low-staining black
(Group 8, 17, 18). The legging, shoe, and stirrup are simi-
lar to those seen on 62. The ornaments on the horse's
breeching strap are evidently meant to represent danglers
of metal and colored wool; a pinecone shape alternates
with a five-cusped shape, some of whose lobes are dotted.
Similar ornaments appear in representations of horses on
Sasanian and post-Sasanian metal dishes (Sarre, Die Kunst
des Alten Persien^ pi. 113) and on a Sasanian bronze in-
cense burner (Pope, Survey^ IV, pi. 240). The ground of
71 shows one of the usual clusters of small dotted circles
(compare 62, 63, 69) and a small cross, probably with no
religious significance, its arms ending in circular blobs.
This cross motif is likewise seen on 72b. In a somewhat
similar form it also occurs on the ware decorated with
yellow-staining black (Group 8, 6).
72 a,b PITCHER (restored)
H 26.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.247
The base, which has a wide groove, is glazed. Bone-colored
engobe. The spout, the ring at the shoulder, and the ring
around the belly are colored red. The head is yellow* On
the shoulder, in reserve against green, are small quatre-
foils, colored yellow, outlined in black. The ground of the
decorated central section is mostly yellow. The two rows
of circles in reserve in the near-black band are bone colored.
Some of them contain what appears to be the Arabic letter
(ta), or even an I (alef) followed by a J (lam), placed on
their sides. Such resemblances, however, may be acciden-
tal. For a somewhat similar use of crescents in the animate
Buff Ware
25
group, see 75. The two birds remaining of the original four
have crests of dotted circles that suggest a cross. For a
simpler version without this suggestion, see 62. Probably
peacocks, though possibly doves, these birds are colored
red except for their heads, which are without color. On
their necks are triple chevrons, one of the common details
of the birds and animals in this ware. Each bird wears a
tricusped halo to which wings have been attached, an
extraordinary feature in this ware and unknown in any
other. A variation is on a sherd in the Royal Ontario
Museum, Toronto. Another variation occurs on a bow
formerly in the Matossian collection, present location un-
known, in which the halo is of the same shape and the
wings are attached, not to the halo, but to the birds' bodies
{Exposition d^art musulman Catalogue, pi. iii). The space
around the birds on 72 is filled with motifs similar to those
of 59 and 62, including disparate ones joined by curved
lines or affixed to one another. One of the devices, com-
posed of four black dots arranged as a cross, also occurs
on 71. The handle of the pitcher is decorated with a guil-
loche in black outline, touched with green. Black is added
to the ground to form a dark band.
Fragments of similar buff ware pitchers were found.
Animal-head pitchers were also made in Nishapur in
monochrome ware (Group 9, 1) and unglazed ware
(Group 12, 125). Such pitchers appear to have been pop-
ular in other parts of Iran also, which is not surprising,
considering the quantity of animal-head vessels made in
Iran even before the Christian era, let alone the Islamic.
For an animal-head ewer in green monochrome ware with
graffiato decoration, probably from northwestern Iran, see
Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. LViii; for two from Iraq, see Sarre,
Die Keramik von Samarra^ p. 17, figs. 50, 51.
73 a^b BOWL
D 21.5, H 8.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Here one sees two peculiarities in detail: the wings the
Nishapur potters sometimes attached to the necks of their
birds rather than to the bodies (the body here already
seems to have a pair of wings folded upon it) and the band
in reserve on the black body, extending downward from
the collar and ending in a curl. The curled band is seen
in a variety of treatments on both the birds and animals
of the buff ware (see comment at 62). This curled band
was occasionally elaborated into a carefully drawn half-
palmette, as seen on 79. The ground of the central me-
dallion is filled with yellow and dotted with green. From
its enclosing ring several triangular forms intrude, each
with a dotted circle as a finial. Triangular forms also dec-
orate the rim, in black on a band of solid yellow. Between
this decoration and the central medallion, on the bone
ground, are three banks of repetitive pseudo-Kufic script,
the tops of the letters ending in open triangles. Generally
similar bands of script occur on 48, 64, 78, 87, and 91.
The exterior (73b) is decorated with trees alternating with
large inverted triangles. The latter are filled with smaller
superimposed triangles and concentric lozenges, both
motifs touched with yellow and green. The trunks of the
trees are yellow, the stiff vertical leaves, green. A tree of
this distinctive form occurs on the interior of another buff
ware bowl, reputedly from Nishapur {Medieval Near East-
ern Ceramics^ fig. 5), and it also decorates the exterior of
an opaque white ware bowl (fragment) found in Nishapur
(Group 6, 24).
74a,b BOWL
D 23, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.26
1:3
On the bottom is a bird with collar and body band, possi-
bly a peacock in view of its crest of three dotted balls on
stems. Attached to its tail, point to point, is a winglike
shape containing a small feathered wing and a triangle of
black dots, the latter a common decorative addition in the
animate group (63). Around the wall are more birds of the
same type, though different in that their almost detached
tails are painted entirely as if they were wings. Unlike the
one in the center, each of these birds has a bud or small
flower in its beak. Although the significance of this is un-
known, birds are found with leaves in their beaks on Sa-
sanian silver vessels (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin, April, 1960, p. 267, fig. 32, left; Pope, Sur-
vey^ IV, pi. 216 A). Alternating with the birds are horned
animals of the usual type, with the usual groups of dots
added at their ears. The yellow ground is strewn with the
small decorative motifs common to the animate group. At
the rim on one side is a word in Kufic, perhaps intended as
barakeh (blessing), though it is not correctly written. Re-
26
Buff Ware
peated elsewhere is a word in pseudo Kufic, drawn in a
single black line, probably meant to be barakeh (compare
62, 76, 79, 86). The ground of the central medallion is
mostly black instead of yellow, a feature also seen on 63
and 84. (For another example, see Wilkinson, Iranian
Ceramics^ pi. 26.) The simple decoration on the exterior
(74b) consists of joined curved brackets, the alternate
units containing a median line. The base, slightly con-
cave, with beveled edge, is glazed.
75 BOWL
Original D 23, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.109
1:3
This atypical piece has a reddish body. The exterior is
entirely undecorated — unusual for buff ware. The three
plain bands, one at the rim, two near the bottom, are red.
The background of the birds and of the rosette in the
center is yellow. The rosette is encircled with green. The
open hearts of this rosette are not characteristic of Nisha-
pur pottery. They are found, rather, in the polychrome
pottery of Afrasiyab. In an example from Afrasiyab in the
Metropolitan (28.82) the heart shapes are somewhat dis-
guised (Dimand, Handbook^ fig. 101).
The birds of 75, walking in procession, in itself unusual,
have exceptionally heavy crests of a semifoliate form not
commonly seen in this ware, the nearest approach seen
on 59. The space around the birds is unusually free of
decorative details. The crescents, left in reserve in the
band of black beneath the birds, are a type of decoration
that appears in a slightly different form on other buff ware
pieces (compare 72). This crescent motif also appears in
the inanimate group, filling the four sectors of a Nishapur
fragment in the Metropolitan (40.170.692); for another
example from Nishapur see Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics,
pi. 24. A study fragment from Nishapur in the Metropoli-
tan, with buff body, bone-colored engobe, and a ridge on
the exterior at the beginning of the vertical rim, has the
crescent motif on the interior, circumscribing the bowl
beneath a rim decoration of vertical strokes like that on 91.
These crescents, which also occur in the pottery of Afra-
siyab, are perhaps variants of the peacock eyes so common
in several wares of Nishapur and elsewhere, but the addi-
tion to the crescent of strokes and a dot, as in 75, seems
to be a peculiarity of Nishapur.
76 BOWL
D 24.5, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Each bird's added tail is filled with a palmette. For a simi-
lar tail, see 62. The small subsidiary motifs projecting
from the tails illustrate once again (see 59) the artist's
love of attaching disparate motifs one to another. Tails of
the same shape with similar added motifs occur, too, in
Merv (Lunina, Trudy ^ XI, p. 249, fig. 17). The spaces
around the birds on 76 are strewn with the customary
motifs, including minute pseudo-Kufic words. The glaze
has completely disappeared. The distinctive small ridge
around the bottom occurs occasionally in the animate
group of the Nishapur buff ware. It is also found in some
of the ninth-century glazed earthenware of Ctesiphon.
77 DISH
D 18.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The glaze has completely disappeared, leaving the strokes
of opaque yellow visible in the illustration as light tones.
One can see how the black outlines were partially ob-
scured, as is so often the case, by the application of yellow.
The decoration features an animal and five birds. The ani-
mal has the usual long horns, sticklike legs, and chevroned
neck. The birds' winglike feathered tails are also seen on
74. One of the birds holds a lanceolate form, to which is
attached a dotted circle giving the appearance of an ear-
ring, in its beak. This is not unusual in the representation
of a bird (compare 74), but the animal has merely the
lanceolate form hanging from its mouth, and this is un-
common. Above the animal is a pseudo-Kufic word in out-
line. The usual small, simple motifs are scattered over the
rest of the ground. The decoration on the exterior, con-
sisting of joined curved brackets, resembles that of 74.
78 BOWL
D 21, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.80
1:3
Bone-colored engobe. The central medallion yellow. The
bodies of two of the four birds are green, the other two
black. The birds have small crests. Their tails are adorned
Buff Ware
27
with a thin curl and a short perpendicular line ending in
a triangle. Above the black ring of the central medallion is
a band of repetitive pseudo Kufic (compare 48, 64, 73, 87,
91). The band at the border is filled with triangles con-
taining a heart-shaped motif. The upright triangles are
colored green, the inverted triangles have a liberal appli-
cation of yellow. The decoration on the exterior, consist-
ing of joined curved brackets, resembles that of 74. The
base, concave, has a small groove near the center. The
base is glazed.
79 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
H 11.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170,525
Beveled base. The decoration consists chiefly of birds and
an animal (or animals). The birds are drawn more care-
fully than usual, and their bodies are adorned with an
elaborated version of the usual band — here become a tri-
lobed leaf form. Their crests, composed of two triangles,
suggest the spurs of a pheasant (compare 58). The birds'
tails (only one survives) consist of three vertical lines, the
shortest of which ends in a spiral, the other in triangular
forms. For a less precise version, see 62. The animal is
perhaps related to the griffinlike creature on 86; its tail is
a smaller version of the bird's tail. Filling the spaces be-
tween the birds and the animal are the usual pseudo-Kufic
words and small decorative motifs. For a bowl found at
Merv with similar but less well drawn birds, see Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 249, fig. 17.
80 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 8.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Many of the Nishapur buff ware animals, like this one,
have tails in the form of a simple half-palmette (compare
79, 86). A vegetal form issues from the animal's mouth.
The animal's eyes and brow are treated in the manner of
the horseman's and horse's on 62. The Kufic kaf^ assum-
ing this is the letter the potter wished to write in his
pseudo inscription, is drawn mirrorwise (compare 40 and
63 among others). The glaze has entirely disappeared.
81 DISH (some restoration)
D 17, H 2.5 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MMA 39.40,112
This piece, w^hich lacks its rim and all of its glaze, has
three short feet. The central bird has wings that are more
curved than is customary. The three birds in the outer
circle have dotted tails. These birds and the three horned
animals, unlike the central bird, have the often-seen
curled band in reserve. Among the minor motifs scattered
over the ground is a group of four nearly triangular shapes
with a circular yellow spot in the center. This motif, in
slightly different form, is to be seen in the polychrome on
white pottery of Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab,"
pi. IX, above).
82 DISH FRAGMENT
Original D 14, H 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Base has semicircular groove approximately eight milli-
meters wide. Buff ground with scattered spots of yellow
and green. The plain band adjacent to the rim is yellow.
The decoration on the w^all consists of a line of Kufic with
its base tow^ard the rim. It may contain the word yumn
(happiness). The bird in the central medallion has a tail of
three parallel lines ending in small triangular forms (com-
pare 62 and 79) ; hanging from its beak on a stalk are three
dotted circles and a leaflike form (compare 77). The deco-
ration on the exterior resembles that of 74 except that
vertical strokes appear between the biconvex forms and
not within them.
83 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 10 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
The glaze has entirely disappeared, leaving intact, how-
ever, the touch of red slip that was painted between the
animal's horns. The drawing of the animal's head, neck,
and body decoration duplicates the treatment on 62, 63,
and other pieces. The bird's body decoration, curtailed,
ends in a trefoil. Among the subsidiary decorations is a
swastika, not encountered on other buff ware pieces, but
found on a larger scale in the black on white ware (Group
3, 26).
84 FRAGMENT
H 10 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
Another example of the use of black, instead of yellow, as
a background color (compare 63 and 74). The decoration
was drawn in outline on the buff surface, after which the
black was applied, leaving a margin between the outline
and the applied pigment. In some related bowls yellow
was applied in the same way. The birds are atypical in
that their bodies are left blank and their wings are filled
28
Buff Ware
with nothing more than parallel lines. For a complete
Nishapur bowl with black background, see Exposition d'^art
musulman Catalogue, pi. m.
85 DISH FRAGMENT
W 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
The piece has lost its glaze. The rim (upper left in the il-
lustration) is everted. The ground and rim are decorated
with branches of two types, one with leaves drawn in her-
ringbone fashion, the other with diamond-shaped leaves
resembling those on the trees of 73. The collared bird has
counterparts in the imitation luster ware made in Nisha-
pur (Group 6, 47) as well as in Afrasiyab. Such collars also
appear on animals represented on luster bowls of Iraq of
a type dated by Kiihnel to about the last quarter of the
ninth century (Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, pp. 155, 156,
figs. 5, 6) and by Lane to the tenth century (Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ pi. 12B).
86a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
W 22 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.177.499
Originally probably as large a bowl as 62 and doubtless
from the same workshop. Engobe pale bone color. The
decoration probably included four horses among the birds,
and a further difference is that the bone-colored engobe is
painted yellow only in small areas. The black body of the
horse is broken up by details painted in reserve. Drop-
ping vertically from its collar are four parallel lines, each
ending on a curl. Leafy forms on the rear half of the body
are decorated with dots, as seen on many other buff ware
vessels. The gray patch to the rear of the forelegs is due to
the scaling off of the glaze. The "cheetah" that appears
above the horse has been given a birdlike head by means of
a stroke of pigment suggesting a curved beak. This treat-
ment, occurring in many such representations, suggests
that a mythological, griffinlike animal is intended. The
tails of such animals are treated as foliate forms (compare
79, 80; see also Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics^ pL 26).
Kufic lettering in various styles and sizes is scattered on
the ground of 86. The decoration on the exterior (86b), in
a radical contrast of style, consists of a highly stylized
form of pseudo Kufic alternating with a compound loz-
enge. The space immediately inside the outline of the
lozenge is yellow; the four small lozenges are touched
with green. For similar lozenges decorating a garment,
see 59.
87 a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Bone-colored engobe. Enough remains of the bird's head
in the central area to indicate that the decoration there
was probably akin to that of 74 or 77. The bird appears to
have a leaf hanging from its beak. On the wall of the bowl
are two bands of pseudo-Kufic inscription comparable in
style to those of 48, 64, 78, and 91, all of which likewise
have an added decoration of dotted circles. Beneath the
rim is a band of compartments with flattened ogee tops,
apparently filled alternately with double -outlined dots and
"scales" and a device based on two dotted circles. The
"scales" are drawn in the manner of the feathers on one of
the birds on 88. The shape of the compartments indicates
an origin in eastern Iran or Transoxiana; in both regions
it was popular in metalwork as well as in ceramics. The
shape was common in Central Asia and China in the
period before the rise of Islam, and it continued in the pot-
tery of the Tashkent region as late as the end of the nine-
teenth century. For its early use in metalwork, see Smir-
nov, Argenterie orientahy pi. C, nos. 213, 214. For the full
development of the shape, its top more rounded than on
87, revealing its oriental origin, see Pope, Survey^ V, pL
561 A. For a later use, see F. R. Martin, Modeme Keramik
von Centralasien^ Stockholm, 1897, pi. 12. For its occur-
rence in the Nishapur ware decorated with yellow-staining
black, see Group 8, 25.
The exterior (87b) is decorated with joined curved
brackets, colored alternately yellow and green, alternat-
ing with a column of short slanting strokes.
88 a,b BOWL
D 30, H 13.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, buff engobe. The quality of the glaze is
poor; staining has occurred beneath it. The animals and
some of the birds have the typical curled band on their
bodies. Some of the birds have a leaf in their beak. Among
the subsidiary decorations are stalks with horizontal
branches ending in "flowers." There can hardly be a
greater contrast in the spirit of Nishapur pottery than that
offered by 88, with its jumble of animals and birds swirl-
ing counterclockwise, and any characteristic example of
the contemporary black on white w^are. The exterior dec-
oration (88b) consists of pointed pear shapes occupying
the triangular spaces of a chevron. One pair of the shapes
in echelon is colored green, the next yellow.
89 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12.2 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
The exterior is unusual in that a semicircular crinkled lug
is added to it. The decoration is composed of vertical
stripes, some filled with slanting strokes. Those following
the contour below the lug are filled with dots instead of
strokes.
Buff Ware
29
90 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The decoration of the exterior (illustrated) suggests a
highly stylized Kufic script. The verticals, forming half-
palmettes, are drawn with a certain flourish. The interior
(not illustrated) is decorated with birds and animals some-
what in the manner of 88. Another instance, like 62, 74,
86, and 88, of strong stylistic contrast between interior
and exterior.
91 a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.524
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Bone-colored engobe. On the interior, adjacent to the
rim, a band of black containing an undulating stem giving
off half-leaves. This motif, drawn in reserve, has the added
dots seen in many such decorations. For a generally simi-
lar border, see 63. Connecting the band to the rim are
groups of five vertical lines. The spaces between the
groups are filled with green and yellow alternately. This
simple rim adornment, uncommon in the present ware,
appears with three vertical lines on a polychrome on white
bowl found in Nishapur (Group 4, 57), suggesting some-
thing of a link between the two wares. Comparable rim
decorations occur on three bowls related to the animate
buff ware in that they are decorated with single human
figures : a bowl, reputedly from Nishapur, with a dancing
man {Sept mille ans (Tart en Iran Exhibition Catalogue, no.
944), a bowl, reputedly from Gurgan, with a dancing man
(ibid., no. 986), and a bowl, reputedly from Nishapur, in
a private collection, showing an archer with a headdress,
resembling the figure on a Nishapur polychrome on white
piece (Group 4, 48).
Below the leafy border on 91 is a band of repetitive
pseudo-Kufic script, adorned with dotted circles, proba-
bly a corruption of the word barakeh (blessing), (Com-
pare scripts on 48, 64, 73, 78, 87.) In the center the sur-
viving portion of a bird's wing indicates a decoration with
birds and perhaps animals. The exterior (91b) is deco-
rated with a large chevron whose inverted triangles are
filled alternately with a single hatching of slanted strokes
and the four-dotted crosshatching so common on the in-
teriors of the inanimate vessels (5, 6, 16, 24, 28, 34, 39).
The upright triangles contain a half-palmette with an ex-
tended tip. Touches of yellow and green complete the
decoration. For an additional specimen of this ware,
closely related to the opaque yellow ware, see Group 7, 6.
30
Buff Ware
32
Buff Ware
34 Buff Ware
20a I
1
1^ ii ^ytiM ii
40
Buff Ware
4lb
Buff Ware
47a
47b
Buff Ware
47
2
Color-splashed Ware
One of the largest groups of glazed earthenware found
at Nishapur was color-splashed ware, the pieces usually
covered inside and outside with a white engobe and deco-
rated with splashes of yellow, green, and a purpUsh brown
sometimes so dark that it can better be described as pur-
plish black. These colors were appKed in dabs, spots, or
streaks before the overall appUcation of a transparent
lead glaze that sometimes has a green tinge. Generally all
three colors were used, but on many pieces only two were,
usually yellow and green, and sometimes only one was
applied, green in most cases, occasionally purpHsh brown.
It is convenient to divide this ware into two main groups :
one in which the color splashes constitute the entire dec-
oration, and another, much larger and made later, in
which the colors supplement graffiato designs. Both vari-
eties were made in vast number in Nishapur in the ninth
and tenth centuries. The popularity of the ware was any-
thing but local, however. Not only was it made in other
centers in Iran, but in Transoxiana, Afghanistan, Iraq,
eastern Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Wasters of the ware,
those sure indications of local manufacture, have been
found as far east as Afrasiyab and as far west as Fustat.
Despite its great production and wide distribution in
the Near East during the ninth century, the ware was not
invented there. It was first produced in China, where it
was made both as glazed earthenware and porcelanous
ware in the T'ang period (618-906). The body used by
the Chinese, exemplified in the sherds of Chinese wares
unearthed in Nishapur, was kaohn. Kaohn^ — the word is
of Chinese origin — is a pure white clay derived from the
decomposition of feldspar, which remains white even
after being subjected to the heat of the kiln. Kaolin was
not available to the potters of the Islamic world, so they
imitated the Chinese body by covering their clay, which
fired from yellowish buflF to red, with an engobe of white
slip. This provided the reflecting surface necessary to ob-
tain proper quality of color in the transparent glaze.
It is possible that the Chinese ware first appeared in
the Near East in the eighth century. There is Hterary evi-
dence on this point : the eleventh-century historian Bai-
haqi speaking of Chinese wares being given to Caliph
Harun al-Rashid (786-809). The particular types are not
indicated beyond the statement that they included twenty
pieces of chinifaghfuri (fine porcelain), "the Uke of which
had never been seen at a CaUph's court before," in addi-
tion to two thousand other pieces of porcelain (for sources
of this information, see Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ p. lo).
It is not unlikely that the Chinese color-splashed ware
reached Iraq, the center of the Islamic world from the
middle of the eighth century onward, even earlier than
has been suggested here. Although no specimens of the
Chinese ware have been found at Ctesiphon in Iraq or at
Susa or Qasr-i-abu Nasr in Iran, all of which were in ex-
istence at the close of the Sasanian period, the finding of
other Chinese wares such as celadon and creamy white
porcelanous ware suggests that when these and other
transitional Sasanid-Islamic sites are examined further,
the advent of the color-splashed ware may be dated earlier.
The ninth-century date is certain, for fragments of the
ware were found at Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Sa-
marra^ pis. xxvi, xxvn no. 4, xxvni, xxix), and this city's
period of importance as the seat of the caliphate is brack-
eted by the years 836-892. Of course, however, Samarra
did not die immediately.
Whether the Islamic imitations were first made in the
eastern provinces nearest China — Transoxiana and Khur-
asan — or at the seat of the caliphate in Iraq is still un-
determined. Geographical proximity to China need not
suggest precedence, especially since Iraq, in the west, had
a sea trade with the Orient at an early date. It is highly
likely that the imitations of color-splashed ware made in
Nishapur were inspired by the copies of Chinese pieces
made in Kufa, Baghdad, and Samarra. The potting qual-
ity of this ware made in Iraq varies greatly. Many of the
pieces are clumsy, but the best ones, in regard to their
glaze, are superior to any that were made in Nishapur.
One distinguishing feature of the early color-splashed
ware made in Iraq is a raised ring defining the limit of the
bottom of the bowl. This feature was copied in Nishapur
—but in the buflf ware, not the color-splashed.
The clay of the Nishapur ware ranges from buS" to red.
In most pieces the body is redder toward the center; in
54
Color-Splashed Ware
55
others it is reddish throughout. The colors hardly diflFer
from those of the other lead-glazed wares made in Nisha-
pur, the buff ware, with its more consistently buff body,
excepted. The clay, seldom well levigated, is not very
smooth and shows small, irregular holes. Some of the ware
was made without an engobe, and in this group the ap-
pHed colors are rather unpleasantly brownish. In the bowls
with engobe — the majority — the engobe is nearly always
applied to the outside too, even when this surface is left
undecorated, and often to the base as well. In contrast,
the potters of Afrasiyab frequently left the exteriors of
their color-splashed bowls with little or no engobe and
glaze. Kurt Erdmann was in error when he described the
exteriors of the Afrasiyab bowls as being covered with a
"light brown slip" (Erdmann, Bulletin of the Iranian In-
stitute^ VI, p. 104); the light brown is the color of the
body showing through the clear glaze.
When the glaze of the color-splashed bowls was thickly
applied, it tended to flake off, the engobe having pre-
vented it from truly penetrating the pores of the body.
This same failing is found in the other Nishapur wares
with white engobes : the black on white, the polychrome
on white, and the ware with yellow-staining black. The
flaking is not necessarily the result of long burial; experi-
ments have shown that no great length of time is needed
for it to occur. The metallic basis for the colors (which
usually bear no resemblance to the ultimate colors) were
probably dabbed on after the dried vessel was hardened
in the sun. After this the glaze was applied, probably by
pouring it from a dish (the method still practiced in Nish-
apur) rather than by dipping the vessel. When in good
condition (as it is on 56, for example), the glaze often has
the iridescence of a soap bubble. This condition, like the
flaking of the glaze, is not a reliable sign of age, since it
can sometimes be seen in freshly made pieces with a lead
glaze. In some of the color-splashed ware the glaze, par-
ticularly on the exterior, has a frosty appearance, a condi-
tion resulting from insufiicient application rather than
from incorrect firing or subsequent deterioration. A com-
parable frostiness occurs in the color-splashed ware of
Afrasiyab, where the condition seems to have been com-
moner than in Nishapur.
Two yellows are found in the color-splashed ware of
Nishapur : a brownish yellow containing iron oxide (Color
Plate 3, page xiv) and a greenish yellow containing chrome
oxide. They do not occur together on any one piece. The
glaze, tinted by these yellows, is often seen to be speckled
with black, the result of an inadequate grinding of the
metallic base. Yellow was widely used on Islamic pottery,
especially in Iraq. Here it is of a more golden hue than
either of the Nishapur yellows. Brownish yellow occurs
on color-splashed vessels from Susa, some of which were
probably imported from Iraq, and on the color-splashed
ware of Egypt. The greenish yellow was apparently used
only in Nishapur and other pottery centers of Iran, al-
though precise information on this point is stiU lacking.
The green of all the Islamic color-splashed ware was
produced from copper. It varies in hue, depending on the
amount used and on the thickness of the glaze. When
thick, the glaze is often practically black. Blue, which ap-
pears as one of the colors of Chinese color-splashed ware,
was not used on any Islamic color-splashed ware of the
ninth and tenth centuries. Cobalt, the metallic base for
blue in a lead glaze, seems not to have been employed in
Nishapur until at least the beginning of the eleventh cen-
tury. It was used in the ninth century in Iraq on opaque
white-glazed ware, so its omission from the color scheme
of the color-splashed ware (and likewise from the opaque
white ware made in Nishapur) indicates either certain re-
strictions in use or lack of a convenient source. Cobalt
was mined in the vicinity of Kashan, at no impractical
distance from Nishapur, but just when the metal became
available we do not know.
For firing, the color-splashed vessels made in Nishapur
were sometimes stacked upright, sometimes upside down,
and occasionally even on one side. In bowls fired upright
the result is often disappointing, since if there is any con-
siderable pooling of the glaze in the bottom, the colors
tend to run together (Color Plate 4, page xv). The ma-
jority of bowls colored with greenish yellow were fired
upright, the majority with brownish yellow, inverted.
This suggests that they were made in different potteries.
Many of the bowls show the circular marks of the three-
pronged clay stilts that separated them, one from another,
in the kiln. Some of the bowls have these marks on both
bottom and base, the result of nesting. Although no kilns
that produced this ware were found by the Museum's ex-
pedition, it is certain that they once existed, inasmuch as
wasters were discovered (67).
The first of the two main groups of the ware— that
without grafiiato designs — may be divided into two sub-
groups, one in which the pieces are covered with engobe,
one in which this refinement is absent. The shapes in
these subgroups are not identical. The majority of the
bowls with engobe, when small, have incurving rims (l,
4, 6). When large, they usually have widely flaring sides
(8) that sometimes curve in at the rim (7). The bowls of
the subgroup without engobe (9-11) are readily distin-
guished by their shape. The diameter is wide in relation
to the height, the rim thick and rounded, and the base,
abnormally wide, is made thin in comparison to the wall
and finished without indication of a foot ring or even a
groove. On these grounds, this particular subgroup, made
in the ninth centiny, is perhaps the product of a single
factory.
The grafiiato decorations that characterize the larger
56
Color-splashed Ware
group of the color-splashed ware were made in a particu-
lar way in Nishapur. Elsewhere in the Islamic world the
lines might be made in two ways : either drawn before the
engobe was applied or scratched through the engobe. In
the first method they are less prominent; in the second
they turn almost black when covered with green glaze.
Pre-engobe drawing was practiced in Iraq, and imported
pieces so made have been found in both Susa and Nisha-
pur, but the second method was the one most often em-
ployed in Nishapur itself.
Just as the shapes diflFer, there are differences in the
decoration. That of the group with engobe is of two types,
the more favored being rows of simple splashes of green
and yellow, usually arranged neatly (4) but sometimes
placed irregularly. The running of the color in the glaze
often destroys an originally neat pattern (2). At times
spots of one color (for example, sienna) are used for the
interiors, with purplish brown spots confined to the ex-
teriors; an example is mentioned at 2. Sometimes green
spots alone appear on the white ground : this dabbed dec-
oration, closely resembUng that on imported Chinese
pieces, was used by the potters of Nishapur not only on
bowls of various sizes but on pitchers, large jars with
from one to three handles (34), sweetmeat dishes composed
of conjoined circular receptacles, covers (Group 9, 38),
and lamps, with or without a central stem. The drawing
is of an example with a stem. The less favored decoration
in this group, which bears no resemblance to that of Ghi-
1:2
nese pieces, consists of poorly drawn lobed shapes (5, 6),
radial stripes with added dots (8), or irregular streakings.
The decoration in the subgroup without engobe, bearing
no resemblance to any on Chinese pieces, consists of radial
stripes grouped in sectors, sectors filled with spots or
strokes, colored "rays,'' and the like (7-12).
The typical Nishapur bowl with grafiiato decoration
has straight, flaring sides (13-26). The everted lip, com-
mon in this ware elsewhere, especially in Samarra (Sarre,
Die Keramik von Samarra^ pis. xxix, no. 2, xxx, no. 3),
does not occur in the ware made in Nishapur. A second
Nishapur shape, also common, has the flaring sides curv-
ing inward near the top (29, 48-51). This shape, which
seems to be absent in the ware as made in Iraq and the
rest of Iran, also occurs in the color-splashed ware of
Syria. The shape itself occurs occasionally in three other
wares of Nishapur; the buff (Group 1, 46), the black on
white (Group 3, 62), and the ware with yellow-staining
black (Group 8, 2).
It was with the introduction of grafiiato decoration that
the Islamic potter forgot any artistic ties he may have had
with China and evolved patterns that had nothing to do
with the Far East. In Nishapur the designs, often quite
simple, were generally executed in a carefree way. On the
other hand, many of the designs were drawn with preci-
sion, particularly in the framework, with elaboration oc-
curring in the filling of selected compartments. Such well-
drawn designs stand in contrast to the loose graffiato
patterns typical of this ware as made in Iraq and found in
such places as Samarra {Excavations at Samarra, 1936-
1939^ II, pi. Lxxxi), Istakhr (Schmidt, Oriental Institute
Communications, 21, 1939, p. 116, fig. 82), and Qasr-i-abu
Nasr (unpubHshed). Whether simple or elaborate, the
grafiiato designs of Nishapur have little relation to the
designs on other Nishapur pottery. Exceptions to this
observation are a few pieces (29, 44) with counterparts
in the buff ware.
Grafiiato decoration, supplemented by colors, was ap-
plied to the interior of bowls with flaring sides, some of
which have incurving rims, and to the exterior of deep
bowls with nearly vertical sides. It was also applied to
platters and less commonly to large jars, on which it took
the form of bold, loose scribbles (37). The Nishapur pot-
ters did not bother to add graffiato patterns to their lamps
and sweetmeat dishes, contenting themselves in these
pieces (none illustrated) with simple splashes of color.
Often found are such simple basic patterns as radiating
lines. In some bowls these lines take the form of a cross,
the areas between the arms being filled with minor splashes
of color. Such designs (14) may suggest that the bowls
were manufactured for Christian patrons, but clear evi-
dence of such an intention is lacking, in contrast to the
case in other wares of Nishapur (Group 1, 48, 49; Group
12, 200). The radiating lines are sometimes increased in
number to divide the bowl into narrower sectors, and
these in turn may be divided horizontally to form quad-
rangular compartments (15). In other bowls the entire
interior is filled with squares (13). Some bowls are deco-
rated with radiating bands and irregular three-sided forms,
usually crosshatched and dotted with purplish brown (18,
20). The designs of another group, very popular in Nisha-
Color-Splashed Ware
57
pur, have circumscribing bands between which appear
three-, four-, and five-sided compartments, usually filled
with minor graffiato ornament (17, 19, 21, among many
others). Some of these designs are dominated by biconvex
forms (46, 47). In the bowls with designs based on radi-
ating lines, spots of purplish brown are added in the areas
filled with grafiiato spirals or similar motifs (14, 15); in
the bowls with bands of multisided compartments, the
spots of purplish brown are placed in the areas that are
free of graffiato (22).
In some pieces the graffiato pattern seems to be of pri-
mary importance — the white areas with their spots and
splashes secondary (66), in others the color splashes dom-
inate (44), and in some the two elements are equal in in-
terest (46, 47, 51). Although compartments of one shape
alone decorate certain pieces (26, 42), more often two
shapes alternate (21). Whether because platters were
made in a separate pottery, or because compartments
shaped like pinecones were thought suitable only for plat-
ters, this particular shape, used as part of a large design,
is found on such pieces only (32, 33).
The graffiato filHng of the various outlined compart-
ments is of several distinct kinds. The most elementary,
crosshatching, is generally found in the compartments of
simply decorated bowls; it is also much used on the bot-
toms of bowls, where it is sometimes drawn in wavy lines
(22). Another common filling is a scribbled spiral (30).
Still another is a leafy form, usually drawn imprecisely
(21-27, 48-50). The compartments on a few pieces are
filled with carefully and delicately drawn leaflike forms
(63, 66).
Study of the graffiato decorations leads one to see that
certain of them are the work of a single potter (63, 66),
while others are at least products of the same manufactory
(30, 44, 47). Comparison of the Nishapur bowls with
those from other sites reveals further information. For
example, the sharply defined, downward-pointing com-
partments, so typical of Nishapur, do not appear in the
comparable products of Rayy, Istakhr, Shiraz, or Iraq. On
the other hand, certain decorations in the color-splashed
ware made elsewhere in Iran and in Iraq do not occur in
the Nishapur ware — or for that matter in the color-
splashed ware of Afrasiyab. These include a band of large
circles inscribed around the wall (57, 62, 65) and a rim
decorated with parallel slanting lines (61, 64). Accord-
ingly, the few pieces found with such decorations may
be considered imports.
Despite the similarities in the color-splashed wares of
Nishapur and Afrasiyab, seen especially in the shapes of
the compartments and their leaflike fillings, there are not-
able difierences. The filling of compartments with single
hatching or a scaleUke treatment connotes Afrasiyab (Erd-
mann, Faenza, XXV, pL xxiva; Erdmann, Bulletin of the
Iranian Institute, VI, p. 103, fig. 2), and most of the bowls
found in Nishapur with scalelike fillings (43, 59) were
probably imported from Afrasiyab. A graffiato cable pat-
tern at the rim (25) is another characteristic decoration of
Afrasiyab. It may also be noted that the color-splashed
ware of Nishapur is often superior to that of Afrasiyab in
the quality of potting and glazing.
Still another indication of manufacture elsewhere than
Nishapur is lines of painted dotting in purplish black,
supplementing the graffiato decoration. Only a fragment
of such a piece was found and is in the Metropolitan
(40.170.478). This dotting seems to be characteristic of
some of the color-splashed ware of Jovain, a site sup-
posedly much dug for commerce in recent years, and pro-
ductive of pottery similar to that of Nishapur. It also oc-
curs in the color-splashed ware of Gurgan (Metropolitan's
sherd collection) and Qalat-i-Jamshid (Stein, Archaeologi-
cal Reconnaissances : pi. rv. Jam. surf. 23). In addition, it
occurs in color-splashed ware found in the Islamic ruins
of Babylon (Wetzel, Schmidt 8c Mallurtz, Das Babylon der
Spdtzeit^ pi. 49, no. 9) and in Fustat (Bahgat &c Massoul,
Ceramique musulmane, pi. XLvm, no. 4). It is curious that
so widespread a fashion should not have taken hold in
either Nishapur or Afrasiyab, but the potters of the graf-
fiato color-splashed ware in these two cities were evi-
dently sufficient unto themselves. Certain types may be
noted as completely absent from the color-splashed pro-
duction of Nishapur. For example, no echo was found of
a type of bird that figured in the decoration of this ware
in Fars, The drawing is of a fragment having such a
decoration, excavated at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, near Shiraz.
With the adoption of a new technique in Nishapur, at
58
Color-splashed Ware
east by the beginning of the twelfth century — that of,
covering a gritty white body, composed mostly of quartz,
with an alkaline glaze — local interest in color-splashed
wares seems to have faded away. In the ninth and tenth
centuries, wherever made, color-splashed ware was pro-
duced with a fair degree of homogeneity; but in the later
periods the difiPerences between the work at Nishapur and
elsewhere became greater. Furthermore, importations,
which had occasionally taken place (57, 60, 61, 64, 65),
seem to have ceased. Despite the considerable merits of
the color-splashed wares of Yasukand and the Garrus dis-
trict near Hamadan, where the graffiato technique was
further developed, none seem to have found their way to
Nishapur. It is also to be noted that none were found in
which the chief decoration consists of a Kufic inscription
on the wall of the bowl and interlaced bands on the bot-
tom with a background of simple hatching, such as have
been found at Qalat-i-Jamshid in the Makran in south
Iran (Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances, pi. iv). It is
perhaps noteworthy that all these areas did not speciahze
in alkaline-glazed wares, whereas Nishapur, in the earliest
days of its manufacture, was one of the principal pro-
ducers. In any case, despite the fact that Nishapur was a
prosperous and wealthy city in the eleventh century and
for a good part of the following century, it imported none
of these wares despite, to our eyes, their artistic worthi-
ness. Thus, while lead-glazed wares with a white engobe
and colored embeUishments achieved a new boldness in
technique and design elsewhere, with the color appUed
precisely between the scratchings or over larger areas
from which the engobe had been removed, such did not
happen in Nishapur, where the ware died out with
splashes and dripples applied over meaningless scribbles.
1 DISH
D li, H 4.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Poorly turned, with thick wall. Incurved rim. Glaze
splashed with green and yellow. Such dishes, with blobs
of color run together in the firing, were made in great
number in Nishapur and elsewhere. The characteristic
wall and rim are seen again in 3-6.
2 BOWL
D 9.3, H 5.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Glaze splashed with brownish yellow and green. Small,
deep bowls such as this, with outcurving rims, were far
less common in Nishapur than the shallower kind repre-
sented by 1, 3-6. The drawing is of one with a more grace -
1:2
ful shape, decorated solely with color splashes (in this
particular bowl sienna splashes inside, purplish brown
splashes outside).
3 FUNNEL
D 9.6, H 3.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Thick wall, incurved rim. Splashes of green and yellow.
Objects of this shape and with a similar slit in the center
have also been found in the Parthian site of Seleucia in
Iraq (Debevoise, Parthian Pottery^ figs. 27-30, 35). It has
been suggested that they wxre jar covers, with the slit
made for the insertion of a string handle, but it is far more
probable that in both Parthian and Islamic times such
pieces served as funnels. Many pottery covers were found
in Nishapur, and all, whether with concave or convex top,
had a knob, obviously a simpler and more durable lifting
device than a string.
4 DISH (minor restoration)
D 9.8, H 4 cm ; Onat Tepe
MMA 39.40.41
Thick waU, incurved rim, decoration of spots, green and
sienna yellow in alternate rings. The exterior, covered
with engobe, is glazed but undecorated. This was a com-
mon shape; the first drawing is of an example from Sabz
1:2
Color-Splashed Ware
59
1:2
Pushan. Bowls of larger size often had added graffiato dec-
oration; the second drawing is of a bowl also from Sabz
Pushan.
5 DISH
D 13, H 5.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.117
Poorly turned, with thick wall. Incurved rim. Decoration:
four lobes left white, each containing a spot of purplish
black. The lobes are outlined in dark green; the rest of the
interior is brownish yellow. Near the rim on the exterior,
blobs of yellow and green. The glaze is greenish; on the
exterior, where it was thinly applied, it has a frosty ap-
pearance. A similar dish from Nishapur in the Metropoli-
tan (40.170.111) is decorated with three lobes, each con-
taining a brownish yellow spot.
6 DISH
D 13.2, H 4.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.95
Poorly turned, with thin walls. Incurved rim. Decoration :
a roughly drawn pattern in green with splashes of green-
ish yellow. Similar pieces were found with splashes of
brownish yellow.
7 BOWL
D 20, H 3.4 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.161
Pinkish buff body, off-white engobe, decoration in green
only, so loosely drawn that it appears to consist of hap-
hazard scribbles and spots. Contrary to custom in Nisha-
pur, the engobe on the exterior is present only near the
rim, which is incurved. Although this restriction of the
engobe was common in Afrasiyab, on such a poorly made
piece as this it can hardly be considered a sure sign of
importation. Only the colored parts of such bowls are
glazed; the rest of the surface is mat white. Spots of dull
purple were added to the green in some examples. A simi-
lar bowl is in the Teheran museum.
8 BOWL (restored)
D 24.5, H 7.6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.17
Widely flaring sides. The design, painted in greenish yel-
low, is composed essentially of eight sectors that are con-
verted, by the alternation of two different motifs within
them, into two crosses. The pigment is filled with minute
black specks, the result of insufficient grinding of the
chrome base. The spots filling the blank spaces are pur-
plish. The entire exterior, including the slightly concave
1:3
base, is covered with engobe, but the glaze, rough in tex-
ture, extends only about three-quarters of the way to the
base. The exterior is undecorated. For further instances
of the cross design, see 14, 15.
9 BOWL
D 19.2, H 6.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Grayish buff body, no engobe. Three groups of purplish
black radial stripes alternate with three groups of strong
green stripes, all of them continuing over the rim. Cen-
tered on the bottom is a large purplish spot. In similar
bowls this spot is sometimes green. The base of 9, low and
flat, is much wider than it is in comparable vessels that
have an engobe. Ninth century. For an example of this
type of decoration on a better-potted bowl, made in Iraq,
with five groups of light and five groups of dark stripes
see Lane, Hitchcock Collection^ pi. 8.
10 BOWL
D 21, H 6.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.31
No engobe. Design of five sectors filled with short strokes
of purplish black alternating with five "rays" colored
green. The glaze on the bottom has disintegrated. The
exterior is glazed, including the low, wide, somewhat un-
even base. No decoration on the exterior. Ninth century.
For a related piece, see 68. For an apparent elaboration of
this pattern in a bowl attributed to Iraq, in which seven
"rays" alternate with sectors filled with spots, see Pope,
Survey, V, pi. 570.
60
Color-splashed Ware
11 BOWL (some restoration)
D 20.9, H 6.1 cm ; Tepe Alp Arsian
MMA 36.20.26
No engobe. Decoration : a cross formed of radial bands
outlined in purplish black. Three green spots in each of
the quadrants ran in the firing. Other applications of
green complete the color scheme. The base — low, wide,
and flat — is glazed. This type of design seems to carry
over into the opaque white ware (Group 6, 23).
12 JAR FRAGMENT
W 21.2, H 13.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40,170.539
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum. No
engobe. Part of a deep vessel that was furnished with
small horizontal lugs. One is visible in the illustration.
Though small, these were sufficient to be of assistance in
lifting the vessel. Near the rim a circumscribing ridge is
flanked by two grooves. The darkest splashes have a pur-
ple tinge, the lightest, yellow. The interior is undecorated
save for a purplish streak near the rim. Early ninth century.
13 BOWL
D 25, H 5.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Flaring sides. Decoration of graffiato squares outlined in
green. Half of the squares, incised with curls, are dotted
with purplish brown ; the other half are colored greenish
yellow. Fired inverted, as were many bowls with graffiato
decoration in generally similar style (14-20). In some re-
lated bowls spots of color appear in all the squares, in
others the pattern is broken by four white bands crossing
the bowl at right angles. The drawing shows a typical,
very common profile :
The decoration with squares is not peculiar to Nisha-
pur; it occurs on bowls of the ninth century found in
Egypt (Butler, Islamic Pottery^ pi. xxxiii b). An example
from Iraq is in the Metropolitan (52.114; Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin^ May, 1968, p. 361, fig. 3).
14 BOWL
D 22.3, H 6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.144
Widely flared sides. Base, slightly concave, is covered with
engobe but is unglazed. Exterior is decorated with two
pairs of purplish spots; glaze on exterior has a frosty ap-
pearance. Interior decoration : two crosses, the more prom-
inent one composed of green outlines and crosshatching
with purple spots applied over graffiato curls, the other
having greenish yellow arms. Fired inverted. Many bowls
of this type were found. Some have a graffiato rather than
a painted Crosshatch, and the colors are sometimes trans-
posed. The purplish spots on the interior are a constant
feature; those on the exterior are not. The drawing is of
an example with graffiato Crosshatch from the Village
1:3
Tepe (MMA 37.40.12) ; for an illustration, see Wilkinson,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ October, 1937, sec-
tion II, p. 18, fig. 25.
15 BOWL
D 29.3, H 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.139
Decoration combines elements of the two preceding ves-
sels: green-outlined rectangles, half of them filled with
graffiato curls and purplish brown spots, the other half
colored greenish yellow (compare 13), contained within
eight radial sectors that start at the center forming two
Color-Splashed Ware
61
crosses (compare 14). Wavy graffiato lines define the
sectors. The exterior is undecorated. The base, beveled
near the edge, is covered with engobe but is not glazed.
Fired inverted. In some related bowls the sectors forming
one of the crosses are left undecorated.
16 BOWL
D 26, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Thinly turned. Glaze of good quality, almost colorless.
Decoration divided into fourteen sectors, seven filled with
graffiato crosshatching and colored green, the alternate
seven left white. The graffiato lines that define the sectors
are wavy (compare 15). The rim is dark green. The ex-
terior, covered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated.
Fired inverted. This simple color scheme was not com-
mon in Nishapur on such large bowls.
17 BOWL
D 32.8, H 11.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Graffiato crosshatched radial bands and crosshatched tri-
angular forms alternating, the spaces between them filled
with broad strokes of brownish yellow. On the bottom, a
crosshatched circle. Fired inverted. Found with 20. This
design appears to have been popular, since a number of
small bowls and dishes so decorated were found — for ex-
ample, 56 (Color Plate 3, page xiv). In some cases the
bottom is adorned with a square rather than a circle.
19 BOWL
D 33, H 10 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Simple graffiato decoration of biconvex forms alternating
with spot-filled triangles and lozenges, a spot-filled circle
on the bottom, separated from the wall decoration by a
white band. Exterior undecorated. Fired inverted. Many
bowls of this large size, or fragments of them, were found
with similar decoration. Usually not carefully potted.
Their colors, when the glaze is well preserved, are often
brilliant. In some cases the white band near the bottom is
absent, and in place of the circle seen here there may be
three short radial bands filled with a graffiato Crosshatch
peppered with purplish spots.
20 BOWL
D 33, H 8.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.132
Decoration of radial and curved bands containing broad
strokes of color, the triangular spaces between them filled
with graffiato crosshatching and spots of purplish brown.
On the bottom, a crosshatched color-spotted square.
Greenish glaze. On the exterior the engobe extends to the
base, but the glaze descends only about halfway. There is
a deep groove near the edge of the base. Fired inverted.
Several bowls with this decoration were found and many
of this shape. The drawing is of an example from Sabz
Pushan in the MetropoHtan (36.20.53) :
1:3
18 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 25.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A cross of broad radial bands, the spaces between them
filled with graffiato crosshatching in simple shapes with
spots of color added. Fired inverted.
21 BOWL
D 33, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170 18
Graffiato decoration of four-sided and five-sided compart-
ments, doubly outlined and filled with foliate forms, alter-
nating in a band around the wall. At the rim, a line of
62
Color-splashed Ware
scallops, doubly outlined and filled with short, curved
strokes. On the bottom, a crosshatched circle. Color
scheme: streaks of green and brownish yellow, spots of
purplish black; on the exterior, alternate streaks of green
and yellow. Fired upright. Probably tenth century.
The foliate forms in the compartments, the brownish
rather than greenish yellow, and the firing in upright po-
sition set this bowl and others (22-27, 40-44) apart from
those decorated with simple crosshatching. In view of
these dififerences, the two groups of bowls doubtless came
from two different factories. However, so far as can be
ascertained, both groups were made in Nishapur.
The scallops at the rim of 21 appear as the rim decora-
tion on a bowl of different shape (49), and, arranged in
concentric circles, they constitute almost the entire deco-
ration of a large circular platter (not illustrated) in the
Teheran museum. Slight peculiarities in the drawing in-
dicate that all three of these pieces were made by the same
potter. For the use of graffiato scallops as decoration on
the exterior of a bowl with nearly vertical sides, see 53.
hatched and spotted with green and greenish yellow. The
base, concave, has streaks of glaze. Fired upright. Found
with 22. Ninth century.
24 BOWL
D 33, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.30
Graffiato compartments in two registers, four-sided alter-
nating with five-sided, filled with foHate forms. The potter,
finding himself short of space as he worked around the
lower register, substituted a small triangular form filled
with scalelike strokes (right of center in illustration) to
complete his circle. The bottom, crosshatched and spotted
with yellow and green, is partly covered with dark green
glaze from the walls. Stilt marks present. The exterior is
colored in the usual way with strokes of yellow and green.
The base, slightly concave, is irregularly streaked with
engobe and glaze. Fired upright.
22 BOWL
D 33, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40,170.35
On the wall, graffiato compartments in two registers. Those
of the upper register are unusual in that their flat base has
a lateral projection ending in a flowerlike form. The com-
partments in the lower registers are like those of 21. The
triple spots in the white areas on the wall are purplish
brown. The bottom, crosshatched with wavy lines, is
spotted with green and brownish yellow. Stilt marks are
present. The exterior is streaked with green and yellow,
a characteristic treatment. The base, slightly concave, is
partly covered with engobe and glaze. Stilt marks also
present here. Fired upright. The location, a low-level la-
trine pit, indicates ninth century. The net of wavy lines
on the bottom of 22 is a feature to be seen in the glazed
wares of Afrasiyab. A portion of a Nishapur platter in the
Metropolitan (study fragment) shows a variation of the
compartments in the upper register, the lateral projection
consisting of a lozenge-shaped leaf. A further uncommon
detail in this fragment is a graffiato lozenge, divided into
four smaller ones, beneath the groups of triple spots on
the wall.
23 BOWL
D 34.3, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.34
Large vessels in this ware are often poorly turned, hence,
like this one, irregular in shape. Decoration: graffiato
compartments in two registers, with two shapes — one tri-
angular, one five-sided — used alternately. All are filled
with foliate forms (compare 21, 22). The bottom is cross-
25 BOWL
D 31.6, H 8.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
In poor condition, the glaze spalled and eroded. Triangu-
lar and five-sided compartments, filled with loosely drawn
foliate forms, alternate around the w^all. The bottom is
crosshatched and dotted with colors. At the rim is a cable
design. Fired upright. Found with 22. Ninth century.
The cable design, not characteristic of Nishapur graf-
fiato bowls, is seen in the graffiato ware of Afrasiyab. In
Nishapur the design occurs most frequently in the poly-
chrome on white ware as a decoration on the exterior
(Group 4, 20). It is also found in the blue-glazed alkaline
ware, Group 11, either painted (23) or mold -made (10).
26 BOWL
D 35, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Two registers of triangular compartments filled with floral
forms. A trilobed graffiato ^^bud'' has been introduced in
the center of each white space; unlike the added motif in
the upper register of 22, this bud is not connected by a
stem to an adjoining compartment. A purplish black spot
obscures many of the buds. The bottom, crosshatched
wdth wavy lines, is color spotted. The exterior is streaked
with yellow and green in the usual manner. Fired upright.
Found in a ninth-century sinkaway. In a related example
(Teheran museum) the triangular compartments are ex-
tended by a "leaf" curving to the left, producing a plant-
like form.
Color-Splashed Ware
63
27 a,b BOWL
D 35, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
In poor condition, both the glaze and the graffiato deco-
ration eroded. Another variation in the compartments that
adorn so many of the color-splashed bowls of Nishapur.
Here the alternate compartments have downward-pointing
additions that make them resemble typical Islamic candle-
sticks. The bottom is crosshatched with wavy Hnes. The
dark spots of color are purplish black, the lighter ones
brownish yellow or green. The streaks on the exterior
(27b) are alternately brownish yellow and green. Fired
upright. Found with 26; ninth century. Whether the com-
partments' resemblance to candlesticks is intended is un-
certain. At a much later period the candlestick motif was
traditional in Soumak rugs of the Caucasus, but its appear-
ance as a decoration in Nishapur pottery was rare indeed.
28 a,b PLATTER
D 34.5, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.17
J
1:4
The triangular graffiato compartments around the broad
rim, the four-sided ones around the well, and the cross-
hatched circle in the center are similar to those of preced-
ing pieces (23-25). The groups of purplish black spots
that once were present in the white spaces have disinte-
grated or fallen off, leaving only traces, an uncommon oc-
currence. On the exterior, beneath the broad rim, are
strokes of green and yellow. The base, concave, has a few
streaks of engobe and is partly glazed. Fired upright.
Large platters of this shape were not rare in Nishapur.
29 BOWL
D 27.2, H 11 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Flaring sides, curved in near the top — a common shape in
this ware in Nishapur (31, 48-51) and elsewhere. Graffiato
decoration of four radial semifoliate forms, each giving off
subsidiary leaffike shapes to occupy the intermediate
spaces. The background is filled with imprecise curls.
Fired upright. This is one of the few large color-splashed
bowls (44 is another) that show any relation, through their
graffiato decoration, to the Nishapur buff ware; for the
buff ware versions, see Group 1, 41-43. The influence op-
erated in one direction only, for there is no evidence that
the typical designs of the present ware were painted on
the buff ware.
30 PLATTER
D 25.5, H 4.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.14
The vertical wall of the central depression is similar in
shape to the walls of platters made in the black on white
ware. Graffiato decoration based on biconvex forms ar-
ranged in groups of four, enclosing quadrilateral forms in
the center and triangular forms at the edge, these forms
filled with spiral scribbles. Fired inverted. Similarities in
the drawing and firing show that 30, 44, and 47 were made
in the same factory. Still another color-splashed vessel
from this factory, not illustrated, is in the Metropolitan
(40.170.104),
31 BOWL
D 35, H 14 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.68
1
With flaring sides and nearly vertical rim rising from a
little ridge on the exterior, one of the largest color-splashed
graffiato bowls of this shape found. The ridge, uncommon
in this ware, occurs on polychrome on white bowls (Group
4, 52-54) and monochrome glazed bowls (Group 9, 33).
Apparently not a feature of any Nishapur pottery before
the tenth century, it became quite common in later wares.
Decoration: at the top of the wall a row of double-outlined
four-sided graffiato compartments filled with the usual
roughly drawn leafy forms ; the space beneath this filled
with quadrilateral compartments with curved sides; a
purplish black spot in each white space between the com-
partments. Fired inverted. The exterior, somewhat chat-
tered, is covered with engobe and glaze. The base, slightly
concave, has no engobe but is glazed.
32 PLATTER
D 34.6, H 5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Graffiato forms resembling pinecones are introduced at
the rim; such forms are seen in this ware only on platters
(see also 33). The pinecones and other outlined areas are
filled with spiral scribbles rather than the usual foliate
forms. Colors: strong green and brownish yellow. Fired
inverted.
64
Color-splashed Ware
33 PLATTER (restored)
D 38, H 5.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.129
1:3
Graffiato decoration of pinecone forms (see comment at
32) and other outlined areas, filled either with crosshatch-
ing or spiral scribbles. Colors: strong green and brownish
yellow. Fired inverted. The underside of the broad rim is
streaked with green. The base, concave with a bevel near
the edge, is glazed.
34 THREE-HANDLED JAR
H 28.5, D 23.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.115
A portion of this jar is in the Teheran museum. The in-
terior is partly glazed. Grooves circumscribe the vessel at
the shoulder and at the upper attachment of the handle.
Whitish engobe. Spots and streaks of brownish black and
green; in several places the colors have run together.
tion consists of scribbles and some large forms loosely out-
lined in green.
38 COVER
D 23 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
The graffiato scribbles have been made, as usual, with a
sharp point. In addition, a circumscribing wavy band has
been made with a blunt point. The colors — green, yellow,
and purplish brown — cleave little of the engobe exposed.
The cover's knob is missing.
39 COVER
D 20.6 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
35 TW^O-HANDLED JAR
H 23, D 19.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Neck divided into three zones by circumscribing grooves.
Lip projects. Base has well-defined foot. Spots of brownish
yellow and dark green. Stacked at a slant in the kiln.
36 ONE-HANDLED JAR
H 26 D 19.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA study fragment
A portion of this jar is in the Teheran museum. Red body.
Because no engobe was applied, the vessel has a brownish
appearance. Circumscribing lines at the shoulder and col-
lar. Splashes of green and brownish yellow. Interior glazed.
Glazed one-handled jars were uncommon in Nishapur.
37 JAR FRAGMENT
D 26 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Large jars such as this, having both engobe and graffiato
decoration, were rare, and no complete specimen was
found. The brilHant colors on this example are brownish
black, green, and greenish yellow. The graffiato decora-
1:3
One of several similar covers. Their decoration of cross-
hatched triangles is reminiscent of such bowls as 17 and 19.
40 BOWL
D 20.5, H 5.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Around the wall, doubly outlined graffiato compartments,
five-sided ones filled with the usual foliate forms alternat-
ing with triangular ones filled with small scales. The bot-
tom is crosshatched. Colors : green, brownish yellow, pur-
plish brown. Streaks of all three appear in sequence on
the exterior. Fired upright. The foliate forms, the brown-
ish yellow, and the upright firing link this bowl and the
next three with 21-27. The scale motif in the triangles of
40, not found as often as plantlike forms, crosshatching,
or scribbles, occurs frequently in the pottery of Afrasiyab;
Color-Splashed Ware
65
40 would thus seem to be an import. It is not impossible
that the Nishapur potters occasionally produced a graffi-
ato bowl in the Afrasiyab style.
41 BOWL
D 22.8, H 6.3 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Around the wall, double -outlined triangular and four-
sided graffiato compartments filled with a design suggest-
ing a curved stem with a leafy addition. This design is
less obviously leaflike than its counterpart on 23. The bot-
tom, crosshatched, is spotted with purplish brown, as are
the white areas on the wall. The other colors are green
and brownish yellow. Fired upright.
42 BOWL
D 24, H 7.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Around the wall, double-outlined triangular graffiato com-
partments filled with foliate forms. Bottom, crosshatched.
Streaks of dark green on the wall; spots of purplish brown
in the white areas. Exterior streaked with yellow and
green. Base partially glazed. Fired upright.
Several more or less similar bowls with flaring sides
were found, apparently products of the same factory. Some
of them have a steplike change of angle at the junction of
the inner wall and the bottom ; a dish in the Metropolitan
(39.40.8) has a corresponding change of angle on the ex-
terior. An unusual feature in the color-splashed ware, this
change of angle on the exterior is common in the poly-
chrome on white (Group 4, 12, among others). In the
Metropolitan (32.150.324) is a ninth-century color-
splashed bowl from Ctesiphon without graffiato decora-
tion, with a ridge rather than a change of angle at the
junction of wall and bottom.
43 BOWL
D 25, H 7.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Double -outlined five-sided graffiato compartments alter-
nate around the wall with double-outlined four-sided
compartments. The five-sided ones, larger in size, are
filled with leafy decoration more or less contained within
two circles. The four-sided ones, whose bottom side is
drawn uncharacteristically as a straight line, are filled
with upward-pointing scales. Fired upright. The design,
while slightly reminiscent of 27, is unusual. The scales
(compare 40) suggest manufacture in Afrasiyab, as do the
wavy lines of the Crosshatch on the bottom.
44 BOWL
D 22, H 7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Decoration of loosely drawn radial bands and subsidiary
curved forms, colored greenish yellow, the spaces between
them filled with graffiato spirals and scribbles. Fired in-
verted, as usual in bowls with greenish yellow, with thick-
ening of the glaze at the rim. Made in the same factory as
30 and 47. Along with 29, one of the few color-splashed
bowls with a design related to one found in the buff ware
(Group 1, 41-43). A Nishapur bowl much like 44, colored
in green and purplish brown, is in the Teheran museum.
45 BOWL
D 23.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.86
A cross made of eight double -outlined graffiato hearts,
with additional hearts in the spaces between the ^^arms."
The hearts contain pendant trefoils. Freely drawn half-
palmettes appear on the wall between the hearts. Colors :
green and brownish yellow with spots of purplish brown.
On the exterior, alternate spots of green and brownish
yellow. The base, concave, has no engobe but is glazed.
Fired inverted, with thickening of glaze at rim. The deco-
ration of the interior is unusual, suggesting that the bowl
was imported. The dark circular line on the bottom is the
mark of a bowl that was fired within 45 without interposi-
tion of a stilt.
46 BOWL
D 24, H 7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Double -outlined biconvex forms with added outlines of
green are arranged in various patterns around the wall and
on the bottom, the three- and four-sided areas between
them filled with graffiato scribbles. Spots of purplish brown
are placed in the biconvex forms. Fired inverted, with
thickening of glaze at rim. A common design, another
example of which is in the Metropolitan (40.170.104).
Although a waster of a bowl of this type was found, the
site of the kiln that produced it was not.
47 BOWL (minor restoration)
D 24.2, H 7.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.145
A variant of 46, with some of the biconvex forms elabo-
rated into curved Vs. Smaller curved V's have been in-
troduced in the four five-sided compartments that are
spaced around the wall. Graffiato spirals fill the rest of
66
Color-splashed Ware
these compartments as well as the four -sided compart-
ments on the wall and bottom. The base, concave, is cov-
ered with engobe but is only sparsely glazed. Fired in-
verted, with thickening of glaze at rim and formation of
drops on one side. Made in the same factory as 30 and 44.
For a somewhat similar bowl, undoubtedly found in Nish-
apur, see Jakobsen, Islamische Keramik Exhibition Cata-
logue, fig. 5.
48 BOWL
D 22.5, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Flaring sides with incurved rim (compare 29, 31, 49-51).
Decoration of three- and five-sided grafEato compartments
filled with loosely drawn foliate forms. The exterior is
blobbed with yellow and green alternately, the customary
treatment on bowls of this shape. Fired upright, like most
such pieces. Probably tenth century. Color -splashed graf-
fiato bowls of this shape were also made in Syria in the
ninth and tenth centuries (Lane, Archaeologia^ LXXXVII,
p. 36, pi. XVIII, no. 2).
49 BOWL
D 22, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.81
Flaring sides, incurved rim. Base, strongly concave, is
splashed with engobe and is glazed. On the interior,
around the wall, double -outlined three- and five-sided
graffiato compartments filled with loosely drawn foliate
forms. The bottom is crosshatched with wavy lines. At
the rim, a line of scallops, doubly outlined and filled with
short curved strokes. Compare with 21, a bowl made by
the same potter. On the exterior, blobs of yellow and
green. Fired upright. Found with 48. Probably tenth
century.
50 BOWL
D 22.5, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.56
Flaring sides with incurved rim. Base, concave, has a few
streaks of engobe and is partly glazed. Three- and five-
sided graflSato compartments filled with loosely drawn
foliate forms alternate around the wall. Three spots of
color are added in the intervening white spaces: two of
purphsh black, one of yellow. On the bottom, a green spot
surrounded by four yellow ones. Just below the rim, a
circumscribing wavy graffiato line. On the exterior,
splashes of green and brownish yellow alternate. Fired
upright. Found with 48 and 49. Probably tenth century.
51 BOWL
D 21.5, H 8.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Flaring sides with incurved rim. The graffiato forms on
the walls and bottom are sketchy, the details mere scrib-
bles. Exterior: blobs of green at the rim. Fired inverted.
Bowls of this sort were found in great number, confirma-
tion that they were made locally. According to the loca-
tions in which they were found, they were not made until
1:3
the end of the tenth century. The drawing shows a typical
section and profile.
52 BOWL
D 21.3, H 11 cm ; minor sondage
MIB
Sides nearly vertical, rim flattened. Beneath the rim, on
the exterior, a circumscribing groove. The graffiato dec-
oration on the exterior, consisting of double-outlined com-
partments, three-sided alternating with five-sided, corre-
sponds to the interior decoration of shallow bowls with
flaring sides, with or without upturned rims (41, 50). The
compartments are colored with splashes of green and yel-
low; splashes of purplish black adorn the spaces. The in-
terior, without graffiato decoration, is adorned with alter-
nate rows of green splashes and brownish yellow splashes.
Many deep bowls of this sort were found.
53 BOWL
D 20, H 11.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 36.20.1
1:3
Sides nearly vertical, rim flattened. Beneath the rim, on
the exterior, two circumscribing lines. Base, concave, is
partly glazed. Graffiato decoration on the exterior consists
of large double -outlined scallops at the rim, filled with
Color-splashed Ware
67
curved strokes (compare 21, 49), and a leaflike form that
takes the design onto the lower part of the wall; splashes
of the usual colors. The interior (Wilkinson, Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin^ October, 1937, p. 10, fig. 9) re-
sembles that of 52 with its rows of green and brownish
yellow splashes. Tenth century. The drawing is of a
closely related piece.
54 BOWL
D 20.5, H 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.112
1:3
Sides nearly vertical. Base, slightly concave, partly glazed.
Beneath the rim is the circumscribing groove usually found
on these tall bowls ; below this is a prominent ridge. The
potter has used the latter as a dividing line in his decora-
tion, placing a row of graffiato triangles around the rim
and a row of similar but larger triangles beneath the ridge.
Spots and streaks of purplish brown appear in the spaces
between the triangles. The other colors are the usual green
and brownish yellow. Greenish glaze, more strongly green
on the interior. The decoration on the exterior is a loose
version of one found on the interior of bowls with flaring
sides (42) and platters (28). A miniature version of this
type of bowl was found in the Qanat Tepe:
1:2
55 BOWL
D 21.3, H 16 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Sides nearly vertical. Flattened, slightly projecting rim.
Beneath the rim, between two circumscribing lines, a
broad, wavy line made with a blunt point, a decoration
seen on other color-splashed pieces (38, 50) but more
usual on bowls with a simple overall green glaze (Group
9, 25) . Superimposed on the lines are loosely drawn graf-
fiato triangles and vertical bands, crosshatched, a decora-
tion comparable to that of certain color-splashed lids (39)
and bowls with flaring sides (17, 56). The interior of 55
is adorned with irregular blobs of color.
56 BOWL
D 19.5, H 6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.125
(Color Plate 3, page xiv)
Loosely drawn grafiiato decoration of three radial bands
alternating with three triangles. The forms have double
outlines and are crosshatched. On the bottom, a double-
outlined, crosshatched circle. The glaze is well preserved,
and the colors retain their original brilliance. The exterior
and the base, which is slightly concave, are covered with
engobe, but the glaze extends only halfway down the outer
wall. The exterior is undecorated. Fired inverted, the cus-
tomary method for bowls decorated with simple cross-
hatching, whether colored with brownish yellow, as here,
or greenish yellow. For comparable decorations of alter-
nating bands and triangles, see 17, 39, 55.
57 BOWL
D 18.2, H 5.6 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Around the wall, a band of large graffiato circles with
double outlines, unfilled, the spaces between the circles
crosshatched. On the bottom, a similar circle. Colors:
yellow, green, purplish brown. Placed in the kiln, at a
slant. The design (see also 62) is unusual. Bowls with
graffiato circles were made in Iraq, but there, instead of
being left blank, the circles were filled with freely drawn
forms barely recognizable as foliate (Excavations at Sa-
marra 1936-1939^ II, pi. lxxxi, lower). Double-outhned,
foliage-filled circles also occur in the monochrome ware
of Nishapur (Group 9, 44).
58 BOWL
D 19, H 9 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.141
1:3
Upturned rim, slightly concave base. On the exterior, en-
gobe and glaze present on the vertical rim only; this is
decorated with spots of green and yellow. Interior: a sim-
ple graffiato decoration of broad interlacing bands with
68
Color-splashed Ware
curling lines in the intervening spaces. The spaces are
filled with purplish black spots; the bands, outlined in
green, are colored greenish yellow, the latter color typical
of bowls wdth plain bands. Fired inverted. For a similar
bowl, probably found in Nishapur, see Lane, Hitchcock
Collection^ pL 19. For a bowl from Rayy with looser deco-
ration, see Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. xlvi, upper.
59 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, white engobe, glaze splashed with green,
brownish yellow, and purplish brown. Fired upright.
Graffiato decoration on the wall of double-outlined hour-
glass-shaped and biconvex compartments. The scaleHke
single hatching in the compartments, common in Afra-
siyab, was rarely, if ever, used by Nishapur potters. The
nine-cusped graffiato rosette on the bottom is not dupli-
cated on any other Nishapur piece. Probably an import.
A bowl found in Lashkari Bazar has similar compart-
ments with other fillings, foliate forms alternating with
crosshatching (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^ II, p. 122, pi.
XXVII, no. 522). The color-splashed graffiato ware of this
eleventh -century site, unlike most of that found in Nish-
apur, is not completely covered with engobe and glaze on
the exterior.
61 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.479
1:2
Graffiato decoration of an animal beneath a diagonally
hatched rim. The body of the animal is scaled. From its
mouth issues a bladderlike form. Three strokes appear to
serve as its tail. Close above the animal, and merging into
the line of its back, is a double curve, foliated on the upper
side. There seems to be no relation between the animal
and any of those to be seen in the Nishapur buff ware.
Contrary to the custom in Nishapur, the drawing was
done before the vessel was covered with engobe. The ex-
terior, like the interior, is adorned with splashes of yellow
and green, the green having considerable iridescence. Not
only the graffiato technique but the style of the decoration
and the quality of the glaze are foreign to Nishapur. An
import, probably from Iraq.
60 BOWL
D 19.8, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.30
1:3
Reddish buff body. Flaring wall. Base, slightly concave,
is covered with engobe and is partly glazed. Interior: graf-
fiato decoration of double-outlined triangular compart-
ments with scalloped sides, each divided into three parts
filled with curved strokes. The center part resembles an
inverted pinecone. Colors: green, brownish yellow, and
purplish brown. Fired inverted. The triple-cusped areas
of white between compartments are unique in the graffiato
bowls found in Nishapur- This fact, together with the fill-
ing of the compartments and the silhouette of the bowl,
suggests that this is an import. A somewhat similar graffiato
decoration occurs on a bowl found in Syria (Lane, Archae-
ologia, LXXXVII, pi. xvii, no. 1).
62 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 24 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Graffiato decoration of large double -outlined circles
around the wall and on the bottom (compare 57), with
fillings of scribbled spirals. Splashes of green, yellow, and
purple. Present in the yellow areas are black specks, the
sign of insufficient grinding of the metallic oxide. Fired
inverted. Unusual decoration. Place of manufacture
uncertain.
63 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 14 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MxMA 40.170.427
Graffiato decoration of two three-sided and two five-sided
compartments filled with carefully drawn foliate forms. In
the five-sided compartments these consist essentially of
an S-shape enclosing leaflike motifs. In the white areas
between the compartments are isolated groups of two or
three parallel strokes ; they also appear on 66, a bowl by
the same potter. The base of 63, splashed with engobe,
is glazed. Fired upright. Probably early tenth century.
The S-motif with leaflike forms goes back to the eighth
Color-Splashed Ware
69
century in Islamic art; versions of it are to be seen in the
carved wood panels of the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
(Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture^ II, pis. 25-27).
pieces found at Susa were made there, it is more likely
that they were imported from Iraq, where similar vessels
have been found {Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939^ II,
pi. LXXX, 3).
64 DISH
D 29.5, H 6.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The one feature this piece has in common with the color-
splashed graffiato ware of Nishapur is its reddish body.
The shallow shape, broad rim, proper foot ring, and al-
most total concealment of the engobe beneath the glaze
are some of the things that indicate importation. The
glaze, colored green and an intense, almost opaque yel-
low, resembles that of pieces from Samarra and Ctesiphon.
The graffiato decoration is also unlike any found on pieces
made in Nishapur, consisting of loosely drawn curved
lines that form no particular pattern and a long diagonal
hatching on the rim (compare rim of 61, another import).
Fired upright. Undoubtedly made in Iraq. Found in a low-
level, ninth-century well.
66 BOWL
D 26, H 7.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.137
(Color Plate 4, page xv)
Red body. The exterior glazed, touches of yellow and
green added. Base, flat, has streaks of engobe and splashes
of glaze. Interior: around the wall, a well-designed, care-
fully executed graffiato decoration of an inverted palmette
within a double-outlined form resembling a tulip, alter-
nating with a double -outlined, bell-shaped form contain-
ing two palmettes within an S -motif. The shape of the
"bell" was perhaps dictated by the potter's wish to cir-
cumscribe the wall with a broad, wavy band forming four
petal shapes. Groups of two or three short parallel strokes
appear in this band and in the larger palmettes. On the
bottom, a crosshatching of double lines. Stilt marks pres-
ent. Fired upright. Found in a low-level room. Probably
ninth century. Made by the potter of 63, the groups of
added short strokes amounting nearly to his signature.
The palmette -filled S-motifs also have their counterparts
on 63, where additional comment on this motif is made.
65 BOWL
D 30.2, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
An import from the west. Most of the graffiato motifs are
foreign to Nishapur : the large circles on the wall, the ver-
tical bands that appear within them, the lotuslike motifs
that fill the bands, the conventionalized treelike forms in
the white areas between the circles, the scalelike filling of
the triangular shapes at the rim. Fired upright. The qual-
ity of the glaze is similar to that of 64, another import.
Colors : light green, dark green, yellow. The bottom, now
badly spalled, may once have been decorated with a bird,
like the second of the pieces mentioned below. Ninth
century.
Graffiato bowls have been found at Susa with similar
circles and bands, the decoration within the bands in one
example being a repeated heart shape (Pezard, Ceramique^
pi. XXXI, top), in another, leafy forms (ibid. pi. xxxi, left).
A variation of the scalelike filling appears in both these
pieces, and a variant of the treelike form appears in the
white spaces of the first. Although it is possible that these
67 a,b BOWL (waster)
W 22.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.295
Red body, burned black in part. The piece split in firing,
and the rim is distorted. The base, concave, is covered
with engobe but is unglazed. The exterior, covered with
engobe and glaze, is decorated with splashes of green; the
copper, reduced in the kiln, causing reddish stains. On
the interior, a loosely drawn, four-lobed graffiato figure
with curl -filled lozenges between the lobes.
68 PLATE FRAGMENT
W 22 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.530
Another fragment of this plate is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish body, white engobe. Glaze unusual in being
somewhat opaque. Decoration: sectors filled with small
splashes of strong brown black alternating with plain sec-
tors toned transparent green (the green has almost dis-
integrated). For a related piece, see 10.
70
Color-splashed Ware
69 BOWL
D 19.3, H 7.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.93
70 a,b BOWL
D 18.2, H 8.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.107
Red body, white engobe. Base slightly concave. Upturned
rim. Exterior undecorated. Interior: four radial strokes of
green, a pseudo-Kufic inscription in black above a black
line in one of the spaces. An exceptional bowl in several
respects. Kufic or pseudo Kufic does not occur in the
typical color-splashed ware. The style of the "inscription"
and its radial placing is in keeping with the tradition of
the opaque white ware made in Nishapur, but here the
glaze is transparent. On the other hand, the radial strokes
of green are not characteristic of the opaque white ware.
1:2
Reddish body, graffiato decoration, yellow-tinged glaze.
Markedly different in shape from other color-splashed
bowls found in Nishapur in that it has a high vertical
collar. This is colored green on the exterior. The decora-
tion, too, is exceptional: six radial lines so placed that
they bound three narrow sectors alternating with three
wide ones. The narrow sectors contain a wavy line, the
wide ones a loosely drawn V. A few splashes of green
have been added irregularly. Undoubtedly an import.
8
Color-Splashed Ware
65
3
Black on White Ware
The third of the three largest groups of Nishapur's
glazed earthenware is decorated in black only, the pig-
ment painted on a white engobe and covered with a
transparent, usually colorless lead glaze. The designs, for
the most part simple and well placed, are sometimes deU-
cate, sometimes bold. In both there is a feeling of vitality.
More sensitive than those of the buff ware, the designs
are usually free of crowded, restless details. After the
confiision of color and scratched design that prevails in
the color-splashed ware, the clarity of the simple black
attracts the eye. The quality of the potting, though it
varies considerably, has none of the heaviness seen in the
buff ware, and such shortcomings as uneven rims and
defective bases are apt to pass unnoticed, such is the
impact of the decoration. All in all, the black on white is
one of the most attractive of the wares found in Nishapur.
Modern knowledge of this ware began at the end of the
nineteenth century, when it was first discovered in quan-
tity in Transoxiana. Fragments of it from Afrasiyab were
given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1898 with
Chopan-ata indicated as their place of origin. Chopan-ata
is associated with a mausoleum built in the first half of
the fifteenth century. As the hill is barren, the sherds
surely come from the adjoining site of Afrasiyab (letter
to the author from G. A. Pugachenkova). M. V. Stoliarov
made gifts of the Afrasiyab ware to the same museum in
1911. The State Museum of Berlin acquired a large col-
lection of sherds and wasters from Afrasiyab in 1906,
most of which is now in the Islamisches Museum, the
remainder in the Islamische Abteilung; wasters in this
collection confirm that the ware was manufactured in
Afrasiyab. Other collections of the ware as found in
Transoxiana are in the museum of Samarkand, the Hermi-
tage Museum, and the Museum of Oriental Culture,
Moscow. Other sites where the ware has been found in
addition to Nishapur include Tashkent, Gurgan, Merv,
and Lashkari Bazar; this indicates it was used in all the
cities of importance in the eastern part of the Islamic em-
pire from the ninth century to the eleventh.
Many of the pieces found at Nishapur, which include
wasters, a sure sign of local production, have decorations
unlike those found on this ware in other centers. The
decoration of others, on the other hand, suggests that
they were imported.
The body of the ware found in Nishapur is usually
reddish, generally closer to red at the core than near the
surface; occasionally the body is yellowish. The vessels
are customarily completely covered with engobe, includ-
ing the base, though sometimes the base simply has
splashes upon it. The white of the engobe tends to be
warmish. Usually the engobe is applied thickly. Because
this prevents the glaze from penetrating the body to make
a secure cohesion, the glaze has often flaked off, fre-
quently taking the engobe with it. The glaze, having a
high content of lead, sometimes has a warm tone. It may
also have a soap-bubble iridescence. Occasionally, due to
the presence of a little copper, the glaze is greenish. It
should be remembered that a piece with this pecuHarity
is not necessarily ancient. In fact, the greenish glaze is
sometimes seen on modern pieces. Always the green tone
diminishes the contrast between black and white. Gen-
erally, the vessels that have a pure white engobe and
an absolutely colorless glaze are those that also excel in
potting and decoration — ^an indication that the purity of
the white was a desired effect. Pieces with this briUiant
white have also been found in Transoxiana and are in the
Samarkand museum. It seems likely that a true white
engobe and colorless glaze were also produced in Afra-
siyab, though no wasters with these qualities have been
found there.
The black of the Nishapur ware is rarely absolute.
Often it is purplish, because of the presence of manga-
nese, or brownish, because of the presence of iron.
The Nishapiu* vessels are of many shapes and sizes,
including circular platters, bowls, dishes, cups, lamps,
jars, and pitchers. The quality of the potting varies con-
siderably. Many of the finest pieces have thin, straight
walls and are gracefully shaped, but some bowls that
have thin sides are ill shaped, and some that are heavily
potted, on the other hand, are well formed. Most of the
bases are at least slightly concave, and many have a low
bevel. The groove, or two concentric grooves, as found
90
Black on White Ware
91
in the buff ware, does not occur. A few of the bowls,
however, have a rather thick foot ring, its outer surface
vertical, its inner surface sloped. Only exceptionally is
there a foot ring cleanly turned with two vertical faces.
As indicated at the outset, the decoration of this ware
is distinctly different from that of the two preceding
groups. The difference involves more than the Hmitation
of the colors to white and black or near black : it hes in
a fundamentally different approach. Instead of covering
every part of the vessel's surface, the decoration occupies
relatively smaU areas. In many of the bowls and dishes
only the rim and the center of the bottom are decorated,
and this decoration is often of the simplest sort. A dis-
tinguishing feature between the wares of Afrasiyab and
Nishapur is to be seen in one type of the wave and dot
border motif. Peculiar to Afrasiyab, and perhaps other
sites in Transoxiana, is a type of this design in which the
dots and waves, connected with the enclosing horizontal
bands by a short incised line, cut through the black. The
rim may have only a black line (6, 10, 15, and others), a
combination of such a Hne and a number of small tri-
angles (58, 64), or occasionally only the triangles (66).
A sawtooth pattern at the rim is very common. It may be
continuous (9, 90, and others), or it may be applied in
short lengths (13, 85, 86). A Une with dots or with very
short strokes added beneath it is sometimes placed be-
neath the sawtooth (ll, 61). Often combined with the
sawtooth is a wave and dot pattern, again either as a
continuous band (12) or in short lengths (4). Some of
these features, such as the sawtooth and the dotted Kne,
appear in other Nishapur wares, though less frequently
than here.
Another decoration painted around the rim, a solid
rectangle of black, seems peculiar to this ware. Having
a labeUike appearance, it may be seen three, four, or five
times, or, combined with other decorations (4), only
twice. In some cases these "labels" have an additional
Hne painted beneath them (l, 56) or else a Hne with
added dots or short strokes (2, 4). The purpose of such
additions was perhaps to make the transition from the
black to the white less abrupt.
Labels also occur on the black on white ware of Afra-
siyab, with certain differences, as revealed in the frag-
ments in the Islamisches Museum, BerHn. The lower edge
of the Afrasiyab label is usuaUy furnished with a smaU
sawtooth, beneath which is a row of dots, not strokes.
Other Afrasiyab labels have a row of short slanting
strokes starting from a faint upper Hne. The rims of
platters so adorned curve over and downward, with the
labels so placed at the top of the curve — a form not dis-
covered in Nishapur. StiU another Afrasiyab label is
supplemented underneath with a red Hne with circular
red dots touching it on the underside.
The designs so far mentioned are painted either at the
rim or closely adjacent to it, forming, as it were, a down-
ward extension. Quite as characteristic in this ware,
however, is a decorative band encircHng the waU not far
below the rim. This is often in the form of a leafy pattern
or else of a Kufic inscription or pseudo inscription. These
were usuaUy painted directly in black; less often they
appear in reserve, the motifs in white within a band of
black. Only occasionaUy were leafy patterns and inscrip-
tional forms, two separate types of decoration, mixed to
fiU one area (3l). This mixed form, in white reserved on
black, is commoner in Nishapur than in Afrasiyab. Some
of the leafy forms drawn in black are very simple, con-
sisting of nothing but single leaves on either side of an
undulating stem (78). Others are more ambitious and
employ the technique of scratching white Hnes through
the black pigment (74). When such forms are drawn in
reserve they may either be a series of separate leaves,
each with its own stem (8), or a series of gracefuUy
curving leaves growing one out of the other (82).
It will be found that the restraint, or even sparseness,
of the decoration on the rim and wall is usuaHy matched
on the bottom. On a few vessels there is no decoration
here at aU. GeneraUy there is at least a single spot or a
curled stroke of black, a trilobed budHke form, a motif
of two L-Hke strokes drawn back to back, or a version of
the Chinese yang-yin. This last, one of the few borrow-
ings from Chinese art to be seen in this ware, usuaUy
occurs in decadent form, resembHng a pair of tadpoles
(6). Among the more elaborate center decorations one
finds an interlaced knot that may also be interpreted as a
swastika (19) and an unambiguous swastika with elabo-
rately developed arms (26). FoHate motifs are commonly
used as central decorations. These are generaUy made
into formal patterns, regardless of their degree of elabo-
ration. Some appear in pairs in an S-shape (81), others in
fours (76, 77). Nonsymmetrical treatments of such motifs
are foxmd less frequently.
One of the most distinctive center decorations of the
black on white vessels is a bird, either duckHke or, less
commonly, craneHke. The first, usuaUy smaU and highly
styHzed, may consist of Httle more than a couple of merg-
ing strokes of black with a beaklike addition (65), though
it often has dots added below for feet (90) and on its
back to represent curled feathers (66). The craneHke
bird, with long neck and long legs, is also highly styHzed.
It is usuaUy embelHshed with foHate forms, these some-
times serving as wings (64, 68), sometimes as a crest (l5),
or appearing as a half-leaf in the bird's beak (13, 15).
The bird's legs often have a meaningless addition of two
dots. This cranelike bird seems to have been more popu-
lar as a ceramic decoration in Nishapur than anywhere
else. OccasionaUy the smaU bird in the center of the bowl
92
Black on White Ware
is drawn in a more naturaKstic way (69), and on some
bowls, drawn on a much bigger scale, a bird may be the
predominant decoration (lO). Since 1940 a number of
black on white bowls have appeared on which large birds
are painted in pairs ; some of these are mentioned in the
comments at 10. This type of design, in which an animate
form covers a large part of the interior, is not confined to
representations of birds. A bowl was found on which a
man apparently rides a horned animal (67), and still
another (a badly eroded fragment, not illustrated) was
decorated with portions of a wolflike animal against a
ground of fine curHng lines with superimposed dots, this
background treatment reminiscent of that on certain
imported monochrome luster pieces (Group 6, 35b).
A great deal of the decoration in this ware, as in the
other slip-painted wares of Nishapur, consists of Arabic
inscriptions. An appreciation of this decoration depends
to some extent on an understanding of the importance in
the Islamic world of written Arabic. The Koran, revealed
by the angel Gabriel in Arabic, directly from God to
Muhammad, was the very core of Islam, its authority
absolute in religion, law, and way of hfe. It is therefore
not surprising that, following the Arab conquest of the
Near East, Arabic script became dominant in Iraq, Iran,
Syria, and Egypt. The supreme importance of the lan-
guage and the script, rather than any inherent superiority
of the script itself, accounted for its superseding the
scripts used for Syriac, Greek, Coptic, and Pahlavi. It
has been said that the sole contribution of the Arabs to
Islamic art was caUigraphy (A. H. Christie, "Islamic
Minor Arts and Their Influence upon European Work,"
in The Legacy of Islam^ T. Arnold and A. Guillaume, eds.
Oxford, 1943, p. 113). Even if this statement be qualified,
the fact remains that Arabic has proved one of the most
adaptable scripts for decorative purposes ever invented.
The close connection of Arabic with the Koran caused
the extraordinarily wide use of the script in all forms of
decoration, ranging from that on tiny amulets to great
buildings. And the connection explains why, in the
Islamic world, calligraphy was considered a most worthy
art, in fact, the most worthy art. The creative talents of
the best calhgraphers, who came from several nations
and worked in many diflPerent centers, led to an unparal-
leled variety of calUgraphic forms and styles. These did
not, as is sometimes thought, evolve from one primitive
"Kufic" script — the name given generally and loosely to
several different types of a simple, rather angular script
with horizontal connections, such as are to be seen on the
parchment pages of early Korans, on funerary monu-
ments, and in architectural inscriptions. Contemporary
with this "Kufic" was a cursive script with more fluid
outlines and curved connections. Each, it has been
pointed out, influenced the other (Rice, The Unique Ibn
al-Bawwab Manuscript in the Chester Beatty Library^ p. 3).
Whether elaborate or simple, Arabic script, irrespective
of its verbal content, is often beautiful. Each type has its
particular charm. During the period under study here —
from the ninth to the twelfth century — -there was an
increasing interest in elaboration. This tendency is re-
flected in ceramic art, especially in the shp-painted wares
of eastern Iran and Transoxiana. However, the presence
on a bowl of a simple script does not of itself imply an
early date. Simple and elaborate calUgraphy were in use
at the same time in ceramics and in other media. It may
be said, though, that great caUigraphic elaboration was
not prevalent before the end of the tenth centiu-y. It was
during the first half of the eleventh century that the script
was often overweighted with ornament (Pope, Survey^
II, p. 1723, fig. 588).
In the ware considered here, the legibiKty of the in-
scription sometimes depends upon the style of the writing.
Although added ornament may affect legibihty, it does
not follow that script without ornament is always easy to
read. Not only ornament but the letters' modifying signs
may be absent. The omission of these marks reduces the
number of different letters from twenty-eight to fourteen,
with a concomitant increase in the number of possible
readings. The problem was recognized long ago by the
scholar al-Biruni (973-1048), who remarked that "Arabic
writing has a great drawback. It contains letters identical
in their forms. They are easily confused, and there results
the need for diacritical marks to distinguish those letters
from each other" (quoted in Rosenthal, Ars Orientalis^
IV, p. 22). The omission of the marks is not confined to
inscriptions in a simple hand, but may as easily occur in
those that are highly decorated with knottings, volutes,
and other ornamental features. The potter, in embelhsh-
ing his wares, often sacrificed legibihty to achieve decora-
tive balance. This was done, for example, by changing
the form and relative size of certain letters to establish
an even rhythm of short and tall, as on 19. This custom
was also not unknown in manuscripts (Dimand, Hand-
book^ fig. 40).
But illegibihty in ceramic inscriptions can occur for an
entirely different reason, namely ilKteracy. Some of the
Nishapur potters, not truly knowing how to write, pro-
duced a simulated script that bears only a superficial
resemblance to accurate writing. Thus, many vessels are
decorated with groups of letters that only approximate
such favorite inscriptions as barakeh (blessing) andyumn
(happiness). Furthermore, there was a tendency among
iUiterate potters to draw certain letters backward, as in
mirror writing. This practice occurs particularly in the
animate buff ware (Group 1, 63, among others) and the
opaque white ware (Group 6, 12, 13). Still another con-
fusing practice was to add diacritical marks where they
Black on White Ware
93
are not needed. Sometimes the writing is so debased that
it is not possible to guess what the simulated formulas
are meant to represent. Actually, the borderline between
comprehension of a verbal meaning and acceptance of
simply a pattern may have been as vague to the Nisha-
purians and others as it often is to those of us who study
their ceramics. One thing we can be certain of: when
some of these calUgraphic forms were adopted in the arts
of Christendom, as happened not infrequently, their
meaning was invariably left behind.
Several distinct treatments of Arabic lettering are to be
observed in the black on white ware, and, to a lesser
degree, in other wares of Nishapur. Most of the treat-
ments are not confined to glazed pottery but occur in
other media, including textiles. Despite certain hmita-
tions of the weaving medium, many close parallels occur
in contemporary textiles, notably those found in Egypt,
where they have been best preserved. These parallels
include the extreme lengthening of verticals, the addition
of triangular forms to the extremities of many letters, and
the use of a miniature script that gives the impression of
bristles springing from a horizontal line. The nature of
sHp painting faciHtates the addition of certain embellish-
ments such as changes of width, curves, and foKations.
A particular possibihty in slip painting on a white engobe
was the scratching of fine fines through the dark pigment
to the white engobe beneath. Such fines were used to
produce interwoven and knotted eflFects. When skillfully
done, this gives an impression of elegance and precision,
unobtainable by simple painting. Found on many of the
Nishapur black on white bowls, the scratching technique
seems to have been practiced to an even greater extent
in Transoxiana.
The shape of many of the black on white bowls has a
direct efiect on their calfigraphic decoration. The flaring
sides make the rim diameter much greater than the bot-
tom diameter, and, as a result, the lettering is often
written with the mass near the rim and the verticals
converging toward the bottom. The same procedure is
used on platters with a shaUow central weU. The alterna-
tive, on bowls, was to paint the lettering right side up
in a compact band around the wall. When the lettering
is inverted the prolonged verticals are exploited decora-
tively, perhaps crossing one another in an arbitrary fash-
ion (20) or repeating the downward extensions in a pat-
tern of ones and twos (34). Lettering based at the rim is
sometimes continuous (17, 25-27, and others), some-
times divided into groups (19, 20, 32, and others). The
tips of the verticals may end simply, or they may slope to
form a point on one side (51), the latter a treatment also
to be seen in Afrasiyab. A common practice, not confined
to Nishapur, was to bend the tips of the verticals to one
side, in efi'ect weighting the extremities, thus helping to
balance the top and bottom of the lettering. The bent tips
of the verticals may also be neatly bifurcated (17, 19, 26,
30). This feature appears only in vessels of good quafity
and with precisely drawn script. Such vessels have also
been found in Afrasiyab. The bending of the tops of
many verticals, so that a rotating-wheel efi'ect is produced
(Pezard, Ceramique^ pi, xciv, lower right) seems to have
been a pecufiarity of Afrasiyab. In another version the
tops of the verticals, heavily counterweighted, are made
to resemble feet, and the added weight of this and other
decoration, generally in the form of fofiated extensions,
becomes as heavy as the base of the letters at the rim.
The vertical strokes in this type of writing have humps
added to them near the middle, making them appear
wavy (52, 53).
In contrast to these styles, with their precision, cursive
grace, and ornamentation, an almost brutal style is to be
seen on poorly made vessels. It is a degeneration of the
bold style, so fike that in early Korans, with a thin fine
continuing from one side of the broad vertical stroke.
This is exempfified on 36, a bowl probably imported from
Gurgan, where this type of script was common in sfip-
painted wares. The fashion also prevailed farther west,
along the south shores of the Caspian, and it occurs in
the Ghaznavid site of Lashkari Bazar. It is found, too, in
Afrasiyab. Since it occurs but rarely in Nishapur, it seems
Ukely that such vessels found there were imports.
Although an inverted calfigraphic decoration proved
an exceUent adornment for bowls and platters, many
black on white bowls have inscriptions whose base is
toward the bottom of the bowl. In such cases the treat-
ment of the lettering is generaUy difierent, the calfigraphy
forming a compact decorative band. The heavily deco-
rated type of inverted writing seen on 53 — and that on
54, where the inscription runs lateraUy across a bowl —
may be considered as bridging the two treatments. The
compactness of the decorative bands is achieved in two
ways : either by weighting the upper part of the letters
or by making the inscriptions white in reserve on a black
band. In the first case the verticals are shortened and the
forms made triangular (24), or, in a more graceful style,
the heads of the letters are refined to look leaflike or
flowerfike (14). In the second case, when the lettering is
in reserve, such elaborations are not called for, since the
black band makes the writing compact (5). Such bands of
inscription, the base of the letters toward the bottom,
might be used as a short panel (22) or as a tall, compara-
tively narrow panel with the words several times repeated,
one line above another (21). These decorative bands of
writing are ordinarily placed halfway up the side of the
bowl, especiaUy when the inscription is in black on
white. When the inscription is in reserve, the band may
be placed higher, near the rim.
94
Black on White Ware
Just as writing takes the place of other decoration near
the rim of many black on white bowls, it often appears in
the center of the bottom. A favorite treatment was to
place the inscription straight across the bottom. A favor-
ite inscription for this use in Nishapur, seen on 24 and
27, was ahmad (may he do that which is praiseworthy),
whereas the favorite word in Afrasiyab, also much used
in Iraq, was barakeh (blessing). The ahmad^ which is not
to be mistaken for the name of a potter, is so frequent in
the bowls found in Nishapiu: that it can almost be re-
garded as a sign of Nishapur manufacture.
Inscriptions, usually of the compact style, and usually
of a debased, illegible sort, are sometimes placed radially
in a bowl (23) and sometimes made to cross a bowl from
rim to rim (50, 54). When inscriptions are used on the
exterior of black on white pieces — dishes, pitchers, jars
— the problem presented by the shape of the interior does
not exist. Accordingly, the inscriptions encircle the pieces
right side up whether they be weU written (72) or so
poorly written as to be merely a pattern (73).
1 BOWL
D 30, H 8.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.273
Strongly reddish clay, white engobe, slightly green glaze.
Base concave and deeply beveled. As is usual in this ware,
the base is covered with engobe but not with glaze. On the
interior, spaced around the rim, four brownish black rec-
tangular "labels," each with an underline connected at
the ends. On the bottom, a U-shaped stroke of pigment.
Closely related is a much smaller bowl (56). Similar
"labels" were found on the rims of platters having a cen-
tral well; one such was found with a bird motif in the
center. Labels also appear in the black on white ware of
Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 1, row C, no. 7, page
366). Study sherds from Gurgan in the Metropolitan indi-
cate that such labels also appeared in the black on white
ware of that city; the bases of the Gurgan vessels have
neither glaze nor engobe.
2 BOWL
D 30.7, H 8.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Colorless glaze. Spaced around the rim, five brownish
black labels, each of which is supplemented underneath
by a fine line with superimposed dots, a device that occurs
on many bowls in this ware (4, 11, 41, 61). A single dot
ornaments the center of the bottom. A related bowl (frag-
mentary) in the Metropolitan (38.40.136) has five labels
in purplish black, their lower edges scalloped and supple-
mented by groups of triple dots.
3 BOWL
D 21.7, H 7 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.127
Reddish buff body. Beveled base. Painting in brownish
black. The major element of the decoration is an orna-
mental band, two lengths of which alternate at the rim
with triangular strokes of pigment; a simple two-leaved
bud on the bottom and a dotted line beneath the lengths
of band (compare "labels" on 2) complete the decoration.
The band itself is derived from Kufic script, the model
being the -woiA yumn (happiness), repeated. For a simple
version of the word in this ware, see 44; for a simple
repeated version, 37. The addition of a spot at the top
between the vertical strokes, as in the present example,
causes the script to become decorative rather than mean-
ingful. Compare 79, on which the added spots have
become trefoils. Many similar bowls were found, suggest-
ing strongly that they were made in Nishapur.
4 BOWL
D 16.4, H 5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.123
Reddish body. Concave base. Decoration at the rim, in
brownish black, consists of two opposing pairs, one unit
a label with a line beneath it with added short, thick,
vertical strokes, the other a length of wave and dot pattern
beneath a length of sawtooth. In the center of the bowl is
a plantlike form with three stems terminating in dots. The
wave and dot motif in this ware can be considered a mark
of Nishapur manufacture, not of Afrasiyab. Compare 12.
5 BOWL
D 24.8, H 7.6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 36.20.61
(
1:3
Black on White Ware
95
The base, concave, is beveled. The exterior of the bowl is
chattered. Chattering, in the unglazed ware of Nishapur,
was often done purposely for a decorative effect; in this
ware the slanting ridges are probably unintentional. The
pigment, brownish black, has in places fired to a clear
transparent brown. Beneath the sawtooth rim decoration
is a band in which the word barakeh (blessing), in reserve,
is repeated. The base of the word is toward the bottom of
the bowl, a point discussed on page 93, and scrolls have
been added to make the word a well -filled block of pat-
tern. The bottom of the bowl is adorned with a disk of
black with curls in reserve. The disk is enclosed by a line
drawn with small projections. This outline recalls a device
that appears on certain polychrome on white bowls
(Group 4, 56, 58). Probably late tenth century.
Bowls with both wall and bottom decorated in reserve
were not common in Nishapur. More usual was the com-
bination of a decorative band in reserve on the wall and a
simple black device on the bottom, as on 6. The painting
of a central circular motif in reserve was also done in the
black on white ware of other centers than Nishapur,
namely Merv (Lunina, Trudy ^ XI, p. 234, fig. 9, right)
and Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 2, row B, no. 2,
page 366). It continued after the tenth century, as indi-
cated by the finds at Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari
Bazar^ II, pi. xvm, no. 270).
6 BOWL
D 21.3, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Beneath a plain band of black at the rim, an ornamental
band based on a wave pattern drawn in a black line, the
spaces being treated as trilobed forms in reserve, alter-
nately upright and upside down. In order to make the
play of the black and white more subtle, black dots break
up the central lobes. The tadpolelike motifs on the bot-
tom, placed ^^head" to ^^tail," may be considered a
debased version of the yang-yin^ a frequent motif in this
ware. Found in a tenth-century location. Broken in antiq-
uity, the bowl was considered valuable enough to be
repaired; iron wire once passed through four holes that
can be seen on one side. Fragments of similar bowls were
found, some with a sawtooth rather than a plain line at
the rim. A bowl found in Afrasiyab has a somewhat similar
band of pattern in reserve, less carefully drawn (Stoliarov
Photograph 2, row B, no. 1, page 366). Above it is a broad
wavy band of a type unknown in Nishapur, and around
the bottom is a heavy ring in black, a ring characteristic
of Afrasiyab. This bowl has a strongly convex wall, a
shape common in Transoxiana but rare in the black on
white ware of Nishapur.
7 BOWL FRAGMENT
D of bowl 24 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.149
A decorative band containing a degenerate form of the
word barakeh (blessing) in reserve. The word is treated
so that it is made a continuous ring rather than, as on 5,
a series of repeating blocks. The lettering also differs from
that on 5 in that the tops of some of the letters follow the
upper line. Furthermore, the reserved areas have added
groups of two or three black spots. The black, a clear
brown in some places, ran during firing. Fired inverted.
8 BOWL FRAGMENT
L 20.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 36.20.31
Beneath a sawtooth rim decoration, a decorative band
consisting of a repeated leaflike form, in reserve on black,
growing from an upcurved stem. Two black dots break up
the light area of the leaf (compare dots on 6), a feature
also encountered in the leafy decorations of the buff* ware
(Group 1, 21, 23). A complete bowl with a similar band
of decoration, found after the close of the Museum's exca-
vations and now in a private collection, has for its central
decoration a motif of two half-palmettes in reserve, back
to back, enclosing a "heart."
9 BOWL
D 35.3, H 12.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.153
Base concave with bevel. One of several bowls with flaring
sides and very simple decoration, here a degenerate,
undeciphered inscription on the bottom and a sawtooth
rim. The black is brownish. Such pieces were often, like
this one, of considerable size. Some have no decoration
on the bottom; others have a small bird (90).
10 BOWL (restored)
D 32.7, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.69
The base, which has a flat bevel, is covered with a thin
wash of engobe, the usual treatment. The decoration con-
sists of a bird with an ornamental pseudo inscription (now
incomplete) issuing from its beak. The pigment has in
places fused to a dark brown. The dark area of the bird's
body has been broken by a wide, curving, reserved band
descending from the neck. This is reminiscent of the
reserved bands that occur on many of the birds and ani-
mals in the buff* ware (Group 1, 62, among others).
Although many bowls of the present ware are decorated
with birds (13-15, 68-70, 89, 90), no bowl was
was found with a bird of larger size than this one in pro-
portion to the diameter of the vessel.
Since 1940 many bowls have come to light, reputedly
from Nishapur, decorated with pairs of large birds, their
wings containing half-palmettes in reserve and a short,
debased inscription {Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig.
96
Black on White Ware
4; Erdmann, Berliner Museen, XIV, p. 12, fig. 7; Ohen
Collection of Persian Pottery^ sale catalogue, Sotheby 8c
Co., June 8, 1964, no. 76). Some have been found, too,
without the inscription (ibid., no. 77). A black on white
bowl found in Afrasiyab has a pair of small birds with a
pseudo-Kufic word painted in the reserved areas of their
bodies (Maysuradze, ^^Afrasiyab," pi. xxm, bottom left).
11 BOWL
D 32, H 11 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body, turned thin. Chattering on exterior. Colorless
glaze, eroded. The rim decoration, drawn with excep-
tional delicacy, consists of a sawtooth with two circum-
scribing lines beneath it, the lower one adorned with
bristlelike strokes. Decorating the bottom is a double
L-like device resembling an a/^and a lam jointd by two
thin strokes. A related bowl of larger size, with straight
walls decorated with a band of pseudo script beneath the
wave and dot pattern, was found in Tepe Madraseh. This
1:3
form of decorative writing suggests that the ware was
made at least as late as the end of the tenth century.
12, BOWL (base restored)
D 26, H 8.9 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 36.20.28
A sawtooth at the rim, the typical and popular wave and
dot pattern beneath it (compare 4). Originally there was
doubtless a dot or other simple device on the bottom. As
there is considerable variety in such decoration, specula-
tion about the origin of this piece is idle.
13 BOWL
D 23.75, H 7.3 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.142
Base concave with bevel. Spur marks on both bottom and
base. Pigment brownish black. At the rim, the word Allah^
reduced to a pattern of three verticals of diminishing
height followed by an elaborate flourish. This device
appears twice. The rest of the rim, decorated at one point
by a length of sawtooth, carries a black line. Other pieces
were found with such inscriptions, sometimes in a group
of three. The practice of reducing the height of adjacent
vertical letters, common throughout the tenth century,
occurs in other Nishapur wares (Group 8, 10, 11), but it
was by no means confined to pottery. It occurs, for exam-
ple, on cloth bearing the name of Caliph Muqtadir (908-
932) (E, Kiahnel, "Aus fiinf Jahrtausenden Morgenlan-
discher Kultur,'' in Festschrift Max Freiherrn von Oppen-
heim^ Berlin, 1933, p. 61, pL li, fig. i). On the bottom of
13 is a cranelike bird of a type seen often in this ware
(15, 64, 68). Although the treatment here is typically
Samanid, the motif of a bird holding a leaf in its beak
goes back to the Sasanian period; it occurs, for example,
on a silver dish of about a.d. 400 in the Metropolitan
(Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ April,
1960, p. 267, fig. 32). Birds with a leaf in their beak also
occur in the Nishapur buff ware (Group 1, 74, 82, 88)
and on imitation monochrome luster pieces (Group 6,
45, 47, 48). On some of the black on white bowls the leaf
was apparently thought of as a wing, and it is found
attached to the bird's breast by means of a curling line
(14). SmaU protuberant marks appear on the legs of the
bird on 13, on the leaf in its beak, and on the flourishes
following the inscriptions. Such additions are typical of
the Nishapur black on white ware (63, 66, 68, 81).
14 BOWL (restored)
D 20.5, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.69
Beveled base. On the wall, in brownish black, a decorative
band consisting of the word barakeh (blessing), repeated.
The verticals, not unduly prolonged, are elaborately deco-
rated in flower like forms. As is customary in this kind of
band, the bases of the letters are toward the bottom of the
bowl. This style of inscription appears also on circular
platters (none illustrated) and small dishes (63). The bird
on the bottom of 14 gives a phoenixlike impression. What
appear to be its wings, however, are merely decorative
appendages, one attached to the bottom of its neck, the
other an extension of its tail. The foliate tips of these
appendages echo the finials of some of the letters. Possibly
made by the same Nishapur potter who made 15 and 63.
Several similar bowls were found; others, reputedly from
Nishapur, have appeared since 1940 {Ceramic Art of Iran
Exhibition Catalogue, no. 35). On some of these vessels
the bird is replaced by a yang-yin or a device resembling
two capital L's placed back to back. The latter device,
not always confined to the center, appears on other black
and white vessels.
Black on White Ware
97
15 BOWL
D 24, H 7.6 cm ; vicinity of Omar Khayyam
MMA 36.20.62
Base concave with bevel. Sides somewhat convex. Rim
decorated with a simple line. Halfway down the wall, a
circumscribing band of close-knit writing consisting of
the words al haraJteh (blessing), repeated. The letters
have hammerlike finials. The style is less well developed
than on 14, although the bowls were possibly made by
the same potter. In the center, a bird with two leafy
appendages, one hanging from its mouth (compare 13),
the other growing from its head like a crest. Many similar
bowls were unearthed.
16 a,b SPOUTED BOWL
D 18, H 7.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.93
1:3
Shown unrestored (16a) and with bridge across spout
reconstructed (16b). The base, concave, is covered with
engobe but is not glazed. The inscription that crosses the
bottom is a typical example of Samanid epigraphy and is
to be read al mulk lillah (sovereignty is God's). Beneath
the inscription is a small, crudely drawn bird, reminiscent
of others in this ware. Spouted bowls were also made in
the graffiato color -splashed ware, but no complete exam-
ple was found. Spouted black on white bowls have also
been found at Ctesiphon; one of the ninth century is in
the MetropoHtan (32.150.260).
17 PLATTER
D 42, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.29
Base has a well-turned foot ring. Decoration consists
entirely of an inscription, so far not read. As on bowls
with flaring sides, the bases of the letters are placed at
the rim. The tips of the elongated verticals, bent to the
left, are bifurcated, a treatment seen on a number of
related pieces (16, 19, 30). A platter resembling this one,
except that its letters are taller and not bifurcated, was
found at Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 3, row A, no. 3,
page 367). From another part of Tepe Madraseh came a
fragment of a platter inscribed with part of the words
al sahiheh (friendship) :
18 DISH FRAGMENT
D 46, H 8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.246
Made without a base. The absence of a foot ring in dishes
of high quality is also to be found in the opaque white
ware (Group 6, 4), The outside is covered with engobe
and glaze. A brilliant piece: the engobe pure white, the
17 1:3
18 1:3
98
Black on White Ware
pigment of the decoration an intense black that held its
place well when fired, the glaze without tint. In the cen-
ter, an asymmetrical design of intertwining stems with
curling pointed tendrils, compact trefoils, and palmettes
in the form of cinquefoils. Fine white lines have been
scratched through the black to indicate the details. Simi-
lar cinquefoils occur on a brilliant polychrome on white
bowl (Group 4, 9) whose decoration includes lettering in
a style that goes back to the early tenth century. This
suggests that 18 is of the tenth century also.
Trefoils drawn in the technique of 18 but on a smaller
scale are to be seen on 74, a piece from the same pottery.
A smaller dish than 18, found in Nishapur after the close
of the Museum's excavations {Sept mille ans d^art en Iran
Exhibition Catalogue, pi. Ci, no. 904), is so similar in
drawing to 18 that it must have been made by the same
potter. Around its rim is a Kufic inscription in a style
suggesting the ninth or tenth century.
In Afrasiyab small jars were made in a style closely
related to these pieces (Sarre, Pantheon^ XVII, p. 158).
The idea of decorating the interior of a dish with a run-
ning design of stems and leaves goes back to the Sasanian
period or the period immediately following it, as exempli-
fied in a silver dish in the Toledo Museum of Art (Joseph
Brummer sale catalogue, Parke-Bernet, New York, April
20, 1949, no. 88, ill.).
heavy black line encircling the bottom of the bowl was a
popular decoration in wares of Afrasiyab. The central
device offers an excellent example of how a black on white
design can be seen in two different ways. It may be inter-
preted either as two tightly interlocked links, defined by
white hairlines scratched through the pigment, or as a
swastika drawn in white upon a limited background, with
a black dot added at the end of each arm. Both motifs are
ancient. Without the added dots in the corners, the device
appears on a tenth-century graffiato bowl from western
Iran (Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 583 B). In Nishapur the device
was used in carved brick decorations of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries.
A bowl resembling 19 but far inferior in quality was
found in Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. vi). Its
inscription, which conveys a different message, is divided
into four groups, and its letters are less well drawn; the
tops of the vertical extensions are bent, as on 19, but are
not bifurcated. The central ornament, placed inside the
black circle typical of Afrasiyab wares, consists of four
roughly drawn petals. The rarity of such pieces in both
Nishapur and Afrasiyab makes it difficult to decide their
place of origin. Without evidence directly from kilns, still
lacking, it would be rash to say that 19 was or was not
imported, even though the black ring suggests importa-
tion.
19 BOWL
D 27,5, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.25
1:3
Base has a shallow groove rather than a bevel, an uncom-
mon feature in this ware. The engobe is thickly applied
over the entire vessel, including the base, which shows
the marks of a stilt. The glaze is free of color, and the
black decoration, an inscription divided into four units
around a central circle and ornament, produces a brilliant
effect. The inscription consists of five words, their bases
toward the rim, the tops of the vertical extensions bent
to the left and bifurcated (compare 17). Beginning at the
right and proceeding clockwise, one may read the message
as : man kathara kalamahu kathara saqtahu (He who talks
a lot, spills a lot). The painter, having a good eye for bal-
ance, diminished the height of the kaf in the lowest group
by half, preceding the two tail strokes of the lam-alef. The
20 BOWL
D 34, H 10.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
In contrast to 19, the engobe is so sparingly applied that
the vessel's surface is streaked with brown. The inscrip-
tion, so far unread, but probably a maxim after the fashion
of the one on 19, is divided into five units. A treatment
not seen on 17 or 19 is introduced: some of the vertical
letters cross one another. The effect is purely decorative.
The bottom of the bowl is adorned with a simple spot of
pigment. Fragments of another bowl found by the expe-
dition had the same style of writing, but more loosely
drawn, the inscription consisting of the word Allah^
repeated.
21 BO WL (minor restoration)
D 38, H 11 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.101
One of the largest bowls of this ware found. The base,
beveled, is covered with engobe and is sparingly glazed.
The glaze is faintly greenish. The decoration on the
interior consists of the inscription barakeh we barr (bless-
ing and beneficence), painted four times to make a wide
radial band on one wail. The letters, their bases toward
the bottom, end in triangular forms ; for more exaggerated
versions, see 24, 40. Ninth-century location.
Black on White Ware
99
22 BOWL
D 20.1, H 8.9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.118
The near edge (as well as the base) is restored, so it is not
possible to say whether the decoration, an inscription
drawn in a bold fashion, was repeated. The wwds are
al mulk lillah (sovereignty is God's). The script has a
number of peculiarities. The lillah is not fully written
out, one vertical being omitted. By no means unique, this
treatment occurs in an eleventh-century drawing (Wiet,
Bulletin de VInstitut (VEgypte^ XIX, pL 1). The letter mim
is embellished by two addorsed half-palmettes. The deco-
ration of this letter, sometimes done to make the writing
a more solid band, was a widespread practice. It is to be
seen, for example, on ninth-century Cairene gravestones
(Hassan, Al-fann al-hlami fi Misr^ I, pi, 20). The central
element of the three half-palmettes on 22 is drawn as a
berry on a thin stalk. This berry like addition occurs also
in the Nishapur ware decorated with yellow-staining black
(Group 8, 9, 29). Furthermore, it is known in the decora-
tion of imitation luster ware (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^
X, p. 8, fig. 5). The three bristlelike additions on the
solitary half-palmette to the left have a parallel in the
imitation monochrome luster of Nishapur (Group 6, 46),
where the additions are two instead of three. The use of
lateral projections at the tops of the tall letters on 22
continued into the Ghaznavid period and appears in the
glazed pottery of Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^
II, p. 64, fig. 49, nos. 8, 9).
23 BOWL (bottom restored)
D 26, H 7,6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 37.40.2
Decoration of three radial lines of inscription and three
or possibly four small triangles at the rim. The inscrip-
tions repeat the word barakeh (blessing) in a style that
wt'uld appear to be a decadent version of 14 and 16.
Contrary to the rules of Arabic calligraphy, a line has
been added beneath the letters, joining them together.
A similar though usually even more decadent style of
writing occurs in the opaque white ware made in Nishapur
(Group 6, 17).
24 a,b BOWL
D 31, H 9.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Base has the usual bevel. Black has a brown tinge. At the
rim, a sawtooth. Around the wall, an inscription reading
[bara\keh we yumn sarur we ... we sa^[adet?] (blessing
and prosperity and joy and . . . happiness). This style of
script, the letters having large wedge-shaped tops, their
bases invariably toward the bottom of the bowl, was found
on a number of black on white pieces (compare 40). It is
also to be seen in Egyptian textiles of the Tulunid period
(ninth century) (Dimand, Handbook^ fig. 162). On the
bottom of 24 is the word ahmad^ doubtless not intended
as a name but in the sense of '^May he do that which is
praiseworthy." A peculiarity here is the birdlike appear-
ance of the letter ha. Hints of this treatment occur on
other Nishapur bowls (27, 29) and also are found else-
where, as in the eleventh -century black on white ware of
Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^ II, pi. xiii, no.
157). If these examples can be considered meaningful
drawings of a bird as well as a letter, so can that seen in
ibid., fig. 49, no. 5, p. 64, although in a very different
style. On the other hand, it may be noted that on a
Nishapur bowl very similar to 24 (Lane, Early Islamic
Pottery^ pi. 15 A) the suggestion of a bird is lacking, there
being merely a V-shaped connection between the ha and
the mim. (For another example, see Ettinghausen, Ars
Orientalis^ II, p. 357.) Although an intentional resem-
blance cannot be ruled out, it is more likely that the
"bird" is often only an accidental effect. 24 came from a
location suggesting manufacture in the tenth century.
For suggestions of birds in the word barakeh on black
and white ware, see ibid., pi. 8, fig. 23.
25 a,b BOWL
D 32.7, H 9.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.105
Base slightly concave, sides convex. The black, heavily
25 1:3
100
Black on White Ware
loaded with clay, varies from brownish to purplish. In
places where the glaze has spalled, the pigment remains
intact. Half-moons take the place oPthe usual sawtooth
at the rim. A heavy black ring encircles the bottom, which
is without a central ornament. The inscription, not com-
pletely read, includes the word harakeh (blessing). The
bases of the letters are toward the rim, the tops of the tall
letters bifurcated (compare 17, 19, 26, 30). Fine straight
lines have been substituted for the usual diacritical dots.
The shape of the bowl, the color of its pigment, the half-
moons at the rim, and the circle around the bottom — all
typical of Afrasiyab — indicate an import.
26 BOWL FRAGMENT
D of bowl (estimated) 33.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MM A 40.170.494
on a ninth-century molded dish of Iraq (Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ pi. 5B),
27 BOWL
D (estimated) 38, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Around the wall, an unread inscription in brownish
black, beginning and ending at a bell-shaped ornamental
device. Varying in shape, such "starting devices" are
found on many Nishapur black on white bowls decorated
with inscriptions, especially those having the word ahmad
(as does 27) on the bottom. For comment on the birdlike
shape of the ha in the ahmad^ see 24. Bell-shaped devices
also occur on Afrasiyab bowls (Bolshakov, Eastern Epig-
raphy, XII, p. 27, fig. 3).
Another portion of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish body. Base, turned very thin, has a foot ring.
Engobe, pure white, covers entire vessel, including base.
Glaze, colorless and crackled, covers all but the base.
The black has a brown tinge at the edges. Around the
wall, an inscription (unread), its base toward the rim.
The tops of the tall letters are bifurcated. There are no
diacritical marks. On the bottom of the bowl, a boldly
drawn swastika with twice-folded extensions ending in
foliate forms. Stilt marks present.
The swastika with extended arms carries on a tradition
established in arts other than ceramic of the Parthians
(W. Andrae Sc H. Lenzen, Die Partherstadt Assur^ Leip-
zig, 1933, pi. 41a), the Sasanians (Pope, Survey^ I, p. 606,
fig. 181), and the Umayyads (Hamilton, Khirbat al
Mafjar, fig. 225). Its occurrence in the present ware
indicates an artistic borrowing from other centers. In a
somewhat debased form it continued in the Ghaznavid
black on white ware of the eleventh century (Gardin,
Lashkari Bazar, II, pi. xviir, no. 246). The swastika on 26
has been construed by Don Aanavi, Metropolitan Museum
of Art Bulletin, May, 1968, p. 355, fig. 5) as four kafs,
representing one of the names of God: al-Kafi (the Suffi-
cient) ; however, since swastikas with prolonged arms
were a favorite motif in Islamic decoration, and since it
was not the custom to put the names of God but rather
expressions of thanks or blessing in the bottom of a
domestic vessel, it would seem that a swastika, rather than
an interlacing of kafs, was in the designer's mind. Swas-
tikas, linked with dotted bands and half-palmettes, occur
28 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 25.4 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.154
Around the wall, drawn in a somewhat loose style but
with diacritical marks present, an unread inscription in
brownish black. For decorative reasons the alef in the
first word crosses the lam-alef. The crossings have been
defined by white lines scratched through the black, a
treatment not seen in the crossing letters of 20. A simple
circle, rather than a "bell," as on 27, marks the beginning
of the inscription. The word ahmad doubtless appeared
on the bottom. Several bowls in the style of this one have
been found since 1940 (Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics, pi.
20). A somewhat similar bowl, obviously by a different
hand, was found in Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab,"
pi. Ill; Stoliarov Photograph 3, row A, no. 1, page 367).
29 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 24.8 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 39.40.16
Around the wall, starting at a tuliplike form, an unread
inscription, in style somewhat like 28 but with the bent
tops of the letters not so prolonged. As on 28, the initial
alef crosses the lam-alef with the same scratching of
white lines to define the crossing. On the bottom, the
beginning of the word ahmad, with birdlike ha, as on
24, 27.
30 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 25 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Around the wall, an inscription in purplish black, more
precisely drawn than those of 28 and 29. The style is
Black on White Ware
101
quite different, the kafs^ for example, being drawn with
the two horizontal elements very close together, as on 19.
The tops of the letters, bent more gracefully than those
of 28 and 29, are bifurcated (compare 17, 19, 26). Some
of the letters cross, but the crossings are merely painted,
as on 16, not defined by scratched lines, as on 28 and 29.
31 PLATTER FRAGMENT
W 14 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.480
The engobe was thickly applied. As a result of complete
disintegration of the glaze, one sees clearly the scratched
white lines that provide the detail in the black painting.
Among the details defined by these lines is a group of
vertical letters near the rim, the tops of which give the
impression that they overlap. The principal decoration
consists of palmettes, curling stems, and four-petaled
rosettes. (For another occurrence of the rosette, see 53.)
The palmettes are different from those seen on another
vessel (18) in that they have pointed rather than indented
tips. This style of lettering was not used before the tenth
century. Pointed palmettes occur in the twelfth -century
alkaline-glazed ware of Nishapur (Group 11, 10), and they
also occur on eleventh- or twelfth -century graffiato bowls
made elsewhere in Iran (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ X,
p. 14, fig. 19).
32 BOWL
D 32, H 10.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Brownish black decoration under a faintly yellow glaze.
An inscription, or perhaps a pseudo inscription, appears
on opposite walls, rising from a base line draw^n near the
rim. Between the two lengths of inscription is an isolated
alef^ doubtless repeated on the opposite wall (compare
33), On the bottom, a simple U-shaped curl, a device used
both in Nishapur and Afrasiyab. A detail not hitherto
illustrated is the projection of an added line above the
solid stroke of the vertical letters. This is also to be seen
on 35 and (a coarser version) 36.
34 BOWL
D 25.2, H 7.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Around the rim, a poorly drawn pseudo inscription in
purplish black. The tall '^letter" alternating with a pair of
closely placed verticals may represent a deviation from
the word yumn (happiness). Lengths of an imprecise
decoration consisting of short vertical lines between two
parallel horizontal lines have been added to the writing.
35 BOWL
D 33, H 10 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MiMA 38.40.138
Beveled base. Around the wall, its base to the rim, a con-
tinuous inscription in brownish black, consisting of a
repeated formula (unread). On the bottom, a tightly
drawn curl that almost forms an oval. As on 32, added
fine lines project vertically from the tops of the short
letters.
36 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 22 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A pseudo inscription at the rim in brownish black, re-
peated on the opposite wall, alternating with a small motif
resembling a bud growing between two leaves. Added
lines, more strongly drawn than on 32 and 35, project
from the tops of the letters ; the letters decrease in height
after the fashion of those on 13. The presence of the
projecting lines and the absence of glaze on the exterior
of the bow^l suggest that this was an import, probably from
Gurgan. Probably not earlier than the end of the tenth
century.
The motif between the inscriptions appears, better
drawn, on another black on white bowl, reputedly from
Nishapur (Erickson Exhibition Catalogue, p. 15, no. 11),
Letters with strongly marked projections also occur in the
polychrome on white ware of Nishapur (Group 4, 35), as
well as in the related ware of Afrasiyab (Cohn- Wiener
Photograph 1, page 364).
33 BOWL
D 25.2, H 7.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Made by the same potter who made 32. Thinly turned.
Glaze much eroded. As on 32, a length of "inscription"
in brownish black appears twice, based on a line near the
rim. The inscriptions alternate with single alefs. On the
bottom, a U-shaped curl, as on 32.
37 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.571
Another fragment of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
On the wall, in brownish black, the word yumn (happi-
ness) repeats to form a continuous band of decoration.
At the rim, a black line, of which only traces remain.
Other vessels on which yumn appears as a decorative
band: 3, 79, 83.
102
Black on White Ware
38 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.561
The rim, shown at the bottom of the halftone, is undeco-
rated. The decoration on the wall, an inscription with its
base toward the rim, is in purplish black. As preserved it
reads [sa]laniah (good health). The vertical letters have
been given humps; scratched laterally with a short white
line, these give the impression of tightly squeezed loops.
Here there is only one hump on each vertical, but one
sometimes sees a series, producing a wavy effect (Group 4,
9). For an intermediate version in Transoxianian ceram-
ics. Pope, Survey^ II, p. 1764, fig. 618. The use of these
decorative humps in calligraphy goes back in textiles to
the beginning of the tenth century, as exemplified in a
piece of linen, dated 916/7 in the Metropolitan (Upton,
Metropolitan Museum Studies^ 3, p. 159, fig. 4). This deco-
rative device was also employed during the early eleventh
century in ornamental brickwork, for example, on the
stonework at Amida (M. Berchem, Amida^ Heidelberg,
1910, pi. V, no. 3, pL viii, nos. 3, 4) and on the tomb tower
of Radkan, dated 1020/21 (Flury, Syria, V, pL vi). Thus,
the Nishapur bowl reflects a widespread and long-endur-
ing calligraphic fashion.
39 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 15.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Spalled glaze. Rim decoration consists of half-moons
rather than the usual sawtooth. On the wall, its base
toward the rim, an inscription drawn with great delicacy
and precision. The triangular tops of the letters are care-
fully divided. At the left is a w^ell-drawn flourish, its
details scratched through the black to the engobe. The
rim decoration (compare 25) suggests an import.
40 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 10.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.681
A black line at the rim. Around the wall, a boldly painted
inscription, its base toward the bottom of the bowl. A
simplified, exaggerated version of the calligraphy on 24.
41 BOWL FRAGMENT
W21.3 cm ;Q^natTepe
MIB
Well turned, with carefully made foot ring. Decoration:
a line with bristlelike strokes on one side and an orna-
mental addition at the rim. The line, which undoubtedly
continued clear across the bowl, is here meant to be a
minute pseudo inscription, unlike its simpler meaning on
such pieces as 2-4, 11, and others. The black, which is
purplish, yellows the glaze in places, suggesting that the
pigment contains iron in addition to manganese. Similar
miniature "scripts," sometimes more elaborated, were
also drawn on platters (50). They occur, too, in the poly-
chrome on white w^are (Group 4, 39, 40) and the ware
with yellow-staining black (Group 8, 8, 32). For a refer-
ence to their occurrence in the black on white ware of
Afrasiyab, see 50.
42 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.496
Another fragment of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
Decoration: a plain band at the rim and a band of inscrip-
tion, painted in reserve, around the wall. Where thin, the
black is brownish. The inscription, its base toward the
bottom of the bowl, reads : we sarur we sa^adet we s[alamek]
(and joy and happiness and health). For decorative bands
of inscription on a bigger scale, see 5, 7. Small-scale
inscriptions in reserve were not confined to Nishapur.
They occur, in a more degenerate style, in the eleventh-
century glazed wares of Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari
Bazar, II, p. 61, fig. 46, pi. xiii, nos. 131, 133, 134).
43 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 9.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.493
Unusually smooth clay with buff surface. The engobe
extends only just over the rim, the glaze only a little
farther. The black is purplish, the glaze greenish. The
decoration consists of a simulated inscription in reserve
with black bands above and below. Probably an import.
Not earlier than the end of the tenth century.
44 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 11.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.426
1:2
Part of a small, well-made vessel. On the wall, base toward
the rim, is the ^^or^. yumn (happiness), placed on a double
line ending in a curl.
Black on White Ware
103
45 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 14 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.563
Well made, the base having a cleanly cut foot ring of a
type more often found on black and red on white bowls
(Group 4, 4, drawing) . On the wall, in purplish black, an
inscription consisting of the w^ords al yumn (happiness),
fully and correctly written and repeated at least once, with
a Hne added above and below. Although the lettering is
treated as a band of ornament, its base — untypically — is
toward the rim. The band probably repeated on the oppo-
site wall. Not earlier than the end of the tenth century.
On Afrasiyab bowls, comparable inscriptions painted
without the added lines occur four times (Maysuradze,
"Afrasiyab," pi. ii, right). Similar bowls, of the eleventh
century, have been found in quantity at Lashkari Bazar
(Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^ II, pi. xiv, Bi2, BaS).
46 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
An inscription, probably reading kull hanVan marPan
(may everything be good). Also present, the triple marks
of a stilt. Another combination of w^ords on the base of a
bowl of this ware, seen in the accompanying drawing, was
found at a high level in Tepe Madraseh and can be read
as harakeh we qadr (blessing and power) :
47 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 8.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.566
The black is purplish. The glaze, slightly green, extends
about halfway down the exterior. A heavy black line at
the rim. Although the drawing is tighter, the treatment of
the script is reminiscent of 36, with thin strokes extending
from the ends of the verticals. Such pieces were rare
among the finds, suggesting importation. Their poor
quality would indicate that their introduction was fortui-
tous and not by way of trade.
48 BOWL FRAGMENT (detail)
W 4.95 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A simulated, debased inscription.
49 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 21 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
A poorly drawn pseudo inscription in brownish black
crosses the bottom. The protrusions on the sides of the
letters are in the manner of 38, but without the refinement
of the scratched white lines. An unusual addition to the
decoration is a rosettelike motif of three large and three
small "petals." Late tenth or early eleventh century.
50 PLATTER FRAGMENT
W 20.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan (surface find)
Discarded
Similar in shape to 17, except that both the inside and
outside of the foot ring are vertical, whereas the inside of
17's slants. Decoration, a line of miniature "script" (com-
pare 41), presumably extending from rim to rim. Similar
scripts occur in the black on white ware of Afrasiyab
(Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. i). On another fragmentary
Nishapur platter, similar in shape to 50, the line of
miniature writing consisted of a repetition of this formula:
m
51 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 20.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Purplish black, the inscription is in formal, elegant Kufic,
the horizontals and verticals of equal width, the tops of
the letters angular and pointed. These are features of the
ninth and tenth centuries. Since 1940 several platters and
bowls with this type of script, almost certainly from
Nishapur, have come to light {Erickson Exhibition Cata-
logue, p. 25, no. 10; Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics, pi. 22;
Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig. 8). For a bowl with
similar script, reputedly from Afrasiyab, see Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ pi. 14B. Other Afrasiyab examples with
this script are in the sherd collection in Berlin; for one
example, see Erdmann, Bulletin of the Iranian Institute^
VI, p. 107, fig. 8. For related but poorer versions, see
Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. iv. Whether this type of
bowl was manufactured in Afrasiyab only or in both
Afrasiyab and Nishapur is not yet certain.
52 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 13.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A carefully drawn inscription in knotted and humped
Kufic. The details of the knotting are scratched through
the pigment, which is purplish black, with delicate white
lines showing in the body of the kaf at the rim and in the
curved stroke that begins as a thin line and thickens after
104
Black on White Ware
W/m/Mm
53 1:2
a double hump. This calligraphy is a development of that
seen on 38. Place of manufacture of such bowls as 52 is
still to be established.
53 PLATTER FRAGMENT
D 36 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.576
Another portion of this platter is in the Teheran museum.
Flat base, no foot ring. On the broad, flat rim, a well-
drawn inscription, the black pigment staining the nearby
glaze purple. The uprights of the letters are ornamented
with double loops resembling those of 52 but drawn more
openly so that they give the impression of wavy lines.
Between two of the letters, a four-petaled rosette similar
to those on 31. Details have been scratched through the
pigment with a point. On the bottom, another four-
petaled rosette. For a complete plate with apparently
identical decoration, presumably found in Nishapur since
1940, Beach, Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts^
LXIII, p. 108, fig. 7. An even more elaborate treatment of
this script occurs on a late tenth-century platter from
Transoxiana (Pope, Survey^ II, p. 1764, fig. 618). The
location of the Nishapur examples with this type of script
confirms the dating to the late tenth century. Its use con-
tinued in the eleventh century in Nishapur and then died
out there, though it continued elsewhere. The central
rosette of 53 is paralleled in the black on white ware of
Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. vi), but resem-
blance in such a small detail is not necessarily evidence
that 53 was not made in Nishapur.
54 BOWL FRAGMENT
H (as shown) 27 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.562
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Base has a foot ring. Engobe pure white. Glaze, otherwise
colorless, is tinged purple near the inscription with a hint
of brown here and there ; this suggests that iron was mixed
with the manganese to produce the black (compare 41).
Decoration : a band of foliated Kufic that probably crossed
the bowl from rim to rim. The inscription is beautifully
drawn. The parallel horizontal lines are made to appear
interwoven by means of fine lines scratched through to the
white; they are further decorated by small semicircular
humps. These humps, unlike similar adornments on 52
and 53, are not exaggerated. The tops of the letters end
either in triangles or trilobed foliate forms. Place of manu-
facture uncertain: perhaps Nishapur, perhaps Transoxi-
ana. For a similar but less well executed script on a poly-
chrome on white platter, reputedly and almost certainly
found in Nishapur, see Medieval Near Eastern Ceramics^
fig. 9, A decadent version of this type of script occurs on
a black on white ware dish from Afrasiyab (Cohn-Wiener,
Asia^ February, 1941, p. 107, fig. 7).
55 DISH (minor restoration)
D 15.9, H 4.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.4
Base, slightly concave, is partly covered with engobe.
Decoration: four bands of simulated, purely decorative
script in brownish black, one on the bottom, three placed
radially (compare 23).
56 DISH
D 13.2, H 3.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.165
1:2
Base slightly concave. Glaze has yellow green tinge. The
decoration around the wall once consisted of three loosely
drawn ^labels" with underlines (compare 1). On the bot-
tom is a small curl. This is found on many black and white
vessels both in Nishapur and Afrasiyab and is probably
no more meaningful than the circular spot that is also
frequently seen in the center.
57 DISH
D 14.3, H 4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.55
Base slightly concave, without engobe. Exterior covered
with engobe but glazed only at the rim. Inside, around the
wall, four lengths of pseudo writing; on the bottom, a
circular spot. The writing is composed of a single letter
Black on White Ware
105
like a reversed S, repeated. For a less debased version in
the polychrome on white ware of Nishapur, and for a
comment on its probable origin, see Group 4, 3. The style
of the decoration and the location of the dish in a late-
period well indicate manufacture in the late tenth or early
eleventh century.
A simulated inscription composed of reversed S-forms
was incorporated into textile designs by the first half of
the eleventh century (Kiihnel, Islamische Stoffe^ pi. v).
Such resemblances are not accidental; rather, they are
instances of decorative motifs that quickly became fash-
ionable in several media.
a triangular blob. Originally there were probably three
such triangles. Found with 57. Late tenth or early elev-
enth century.
61 DISH
D 14.5, H 4.1 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Decoration in purplish black. On the bottom, a pseudo
inscription in unique style. At rim, a sawtooth. Supple-
menting this is a line with bristlelike strokes on the
lower side.
58 DISH
D 15.4, H 3.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.162
1:2
Dishes of this shallow shape, while not uncommon in this
ware, are less common than those in which the transition
of planes is sharper. The whole of the underside is cov-
ered with engobe and glaze. Decoration: four small tri-
angles spaced around the black -lined rim (compare 3, 23)
and an unusual, loosely drawn, purely decorative motif
on the bottom.
59 DISH
D 12, H 3.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Decoration in brownish black: four radial bands filled
with blocks of pseudo writing, including a ^«/-like letter,
triangular blobs in the spaces at the rim, and a circular
spot on the bottom. Found with 57. Late tenth or early
eleventh century. A similar but less disintegrated treat-
ment of script occurs on a bowl with white slip painting
on a black engobe (Group 5, 3). A similar type also
appears in the eleventh-century ware of Lashkari Bazar
(Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^ II, pi. xiii, no. 160) and again,
with the /i(2/-like letter between verticals, at Afrasiyab, in
ware generally reckoned to be of the Karakhanid period
(922-1211) (Cohn-Wiener, Asia, February, 1941, p. 107,
fig. 7).
60 DISH
D 10.3, H 3.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.54
Decoration in brownish black. On the bottom, an orna-
mental device without meaning. At the black-lined rim,
62 DISH
D 10.8, H 5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 36.20.5
1:2
Of uncommon shape, with incurving rim. Base, concave,
is covered with engobe but is unglazed. Decoration in
semitransparent yellowish brown: pseudo writing on a
large scale, freely and gracefully drawn. No decoration on
the exterior, A similar vessel was found, its decoration on
a smaller scale, with some green glaze dropped upon its
base, an indication that black on white ware was at least
occasionally fired together with other types of glazed
earthenware.
63 DISH
D 14.5, H 4.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.111
1:2
Wide rim. Base, slightly concave, covered with engobe.
Decoration: an inscription and two birds on the bottom,
four triangles spaced around the rim. The inscription
derives from the word harakeh (blessing). The definite
article al appears at the beginning (at right) but is omitted
in the repetitions. The finials of some of the letters are
closely related to those of 14 and 15, suggesting produc-
106
Black on White Ware
tion in the same pottery. The two dots added to the birds'
upper wings should really appear upon their backs — see
66 for a better version and further explanation. Several
vessels of this shape and with almost identical decoration
were found ; one is in the Teheran museum. The discovery
of a waster decorated with a similar bird (89) indicates
that such pieces were manufactured locally.
64 DISH
D 15.4, H 5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.98
Base, slighdy concave, is covered with engobe. Decoration
in brownish black; a loosely drawn cranelike bird on the
bottom, four triangles spaced around the black-lined rim.
End of the tenth or early eleventh century. Several similar
dishes were found. One found in Nishapur before the
start of the Museum's excavations and published as of the
twelfth century (Pope, Survey^ II, p. 1503, fig. 530) should
be redated in light of these subsequent finds.
65 DISH
D 12.5, H 3.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.38
In reserve, five circles around the wall and a sixth on the
bottom, each containing a birdlike device; in the spaces
between the circles, small, generally triangular shapes,
also in reserve, each containing a dot. Found at a high
level; late tenth or early eleventh century. A fragment of
a similar bowl (discarded) had a group of three dots in
place of the birdlike figure. Also found were fragments of
a small pitcher, showing on the sloping shoulder a ring
of circles with a typical Nishapur bird in each.
66 DISH
D 13, H 4.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
A bird on the bottom, three triangles spaced around the
rim. The bird is a duck: the two spots on its back (com-
pare 63) indicate the curling feathers that are so common
in Sasanian representations of ducks. In the Sasanian ver-
sions the feathers are usually more carefully drawn,
whether on small sealstones, silver plates, or rock sculp-
tures. For an example of the last, Sarre, Die Kunst des
Alten Persien^ pi. 97.
67 DISH (some restoration)
D 12.2, H 4.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.164
An uncommon shape (compare 62), with incurving rim.
Base flat, covered with engobe but not w^ith glaze. No
decoration on exterior. The black is purplish, the glaze
greenish. The crude drawing, none of which has been
altered in the restoration, would seem to show a man
astride a horned animal. Although no similar piece was
found, animate representations other than birds were
employed (see page 92).
68 BOWL FRAGMENT (detail)
Q^nat Tepe
MIB
The central decoration of a large bowl that had, around
its rim, some short bands of poorly drawn Kufic in reserve.
Probably intended as a stork or a crane, the bird, artis-
tically speaking, is related to those of 13-15 and 64. The
two strokes added on its leaflike wings, anatomically
meaningless, are a mannerism common in the black on
white ware birds of Nishapur. The enclosure of the head
by two curved lines is unusual. Late tenth or early
eleventh century.
69 BOWL FRAGMENT (detail)
Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A simply drawn, naturalistic bird. The bowl from which
this central figure was taken resembled 15 in its band of
inscription and rim. A similar bird occurs as the central
motif on an Egyptian bowl dated to the eleventh century
(Bahgat Sc Massoul, Ceramique musulmane^ pi. xi, no. 8).
70 DISH FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 8.2 cm ; reputedly in vicinity of Omar Khayyam
(surface find)
MMA 36.20.38
Because there is no trace of glaze, it cannot be said for
sure that this is black on white ware; it may have been a
dish decorated with yellow-staining black. The decoration
around the wall is a late and poor form of pseudo writing
derived from the word barakeh (blessing). On the bottom
is a bird with a fishlike tail; no other bird like this was
found. Also unique is the object in the bird's beak;
instead of the leaf that is commonly seen, the object gives
the impression of being a pear-shaped bundle. Probably
late tenth or early eleventh century. For an even more
degenerate form of the ^inscription," see 73.
71 JAR
H 12.8, D 12 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
Poorly potted. Around the shoulder, in brownish black,
a series of loosely drawn birds reminiscent of the one on
66. Beneath, a repetitive, illegible inscription. An Afra-
siyab jar with an encircling inscription, written in a better
hand but without birds, appears in Stoliarov Photograph
1, row B, no. 2, page 366.
Black on White Ware
107
72 PITCHER (handle missing)
H 15, D 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:2
Well turned, the shape also occurs in the ninth-century
unglazed ware of Nishapur. Decoration: a boldly written
inscription in brownish black, in style reminiscent of 27.
An incomplete and badly damaged ewer or jar of this
ware, but of a shape also often found unglazed, likewise
came from Tepe Madraseh. Its decoration, recalling
Arabic script, encircled the vessel at the shoulder. Like
72, probably late tenth or early eleventh century :
73 BOWL
D 10, H 6.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Base, concave, has neither engobe nor glaze. Interior
undecorated. On the exterior, painted in a band around
the rim, is a repeated formula, one of the ultimate degen-
erations of the wwd harakeh (blessing). The black is
purplish in some places, brownish in others. Bowls of this
shape, with high insloping sides, and with this decora-
tion, were common. In some examples with low incurving
sides (after the fashion of 62), the simulated calligraphy
is placed across the interior of the bowl from rim to rim
and a minor motif added at either side; a bowl so deco-
rated is in the Metropohtan (38.40.158). When the
decoration is on the interior, it was apparently the cus-
tom to draw a circumscribing black line near the rim.
The shape and decoration of 73 are common in the
ware with yellow-staining black, with the decoration often
on a larger scale. (Group 8, 2, 4, 5.)
74 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 10 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.564
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Originally almost hemispherical. A brilliant piece, the en-
gobe pure white, the glaze colorless except near the black,
where it is purpled. Decoration, confined to the ex-
terior, consists of a sawtooth at the rim and a band of
curling stems and trefoils, the broad lines of which are
made to appear interwwen by means of fine white lines
scratched through the pigment. On the evidence of its
technical and decorative qualities, possibly from the same
pottery as 18.
75 LAMP
L 9, H 3.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.290
1:2
Engobe and glaze applied both outside and inside. Deco-
ration: a sawtooth around the rim. Blackening of the tip
of the spout indicates that the lamp was used.
76 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 12 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
In brownish black, a lozenge divided into four smaller
ones, each containing a loosely drawn foliate form, the
motif as a whole probably deriving from the design on 77.
108
Black on White Ware
77 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 14 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A carefully drawn rosette composed of four palmettes
point to point within a circle. The palmettes, formed by
two addorsed half-palmettes, are enclosed in stems that
form heart shapes. Antedating the Islamic era, this motif
remained a favorite in various media for centuries. It is
to be seen in the stucco ornament of the Parthian palace
at Assur (W. Andrae &: H. Lenzen, Die Partherstadt
Assur^ Leipzig, 1933, pi. 20a, 2 Id), and it occurs as a tex-
tile decoration in the Sasanian rock carvings at Taq-i-
Bustan (Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East^ p. 339, fig. 421,
right). The individual palmettes in their heart-shaped en-
closures occur on the capital of a column at Taq-i-Bustan
(Sarre, Die Kunstdes Alten Persien^ pi. 92). The complete
motif is to be seen in a Mesopotamian textile of the tenth
or eleventh century (*^Notes," Ars Islamica^ IX, 1942,
fig. 14). In ceramics of the twelfth and thirteenth centu-
ries the motif was used in places as far apart as Lashkari
Bazar in the east (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar ^ II, pi. xviii,
no. 278) and Corinth in the west (C. H. Morgan II, The
Byzantine Pottery^ Cambridge, Mass., 1942, pi. liii, o).
78 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.572
Although the rim itself is missing, enough remains to
show that it curved inward. Decoration: a band contain-
ing a wavy line with foliate additions. Such a treatment
was rare in this ware, unlike the bands of wave and dot
motif seen on 4 and 12. The exterior of 78, covered with
engobe and glaze, was apparently decorated with a group,
or groups, of vertical strokes contained within an oval.
Fragments of bowls were found with more elaborate bands
than that of 78, half-palmettes appearing in place of the
leaves.
79 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.573
The black, where thin, is purplish. The design is based
on the -word yumn (happiness), here treated entirely as a
decoration. For its evolution, see 37, 83, and 3, in that
order.
80 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
In brow^nish black: a loosely draw^n half-palmette flanked
by two thin stems with leafy ornament, in reserve. Bowls
with bottoms decorated in reserve were not common in
Nishapur, and bowls with both bottom and rim so deco-
rated (see 5) were exceptional. Patterns somewhat similar
to that of 80 are to be seen on a bowl of the tenth or
eleventh century found at Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p.
234, fig. 9, right).
81 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 15 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.569
A pair of half-palmettes joined by an S-curve. Pairs of
projecting strokes have been added to the stem and to
the half-palmettes. Compare 68 for similar additions to
the wings of a bird.
82 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A sawtooth and a band containing a leafy scroll in reserve,
the scroll treated more gracefully than the more com-
monly seen (as on 8) repetition of a single leaf.
83 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 6.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.571
The word yumn (happiness) repeated to form a pattern.
The spaces between the vertical letters are filled with
notched triangles. For a simpler version of this band, 37;
for more purely decorative versions, 3 and 79.
84 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 9.2 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
In brownish black: a freely drawn, disintegrated half-
palmette enclosed in concentric lozenges. Early eleventh
century.
85 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 20.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.466
Discolored by seepage under the glaze. A length of saw-
tooth, a line dotted on the lower side, a repeated motif
consisting of four amalgamated spots, and a second line
with dots. The unit, comprising a panel, was probably
repeated on the opposite wall. In this instance the dotted
line is undoubtedly merely decorative (as on 11 and 61,
among others) and not intended as a pseudo inscription
(as it is on 41),
Black on White Ware
109
86 FRAGMENT
W 13 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.574
Transparent brown pigment, greenish glaze. A length of
sawtooth and a subjoined band filled with wave pattern.
The unit was probably repeated at least once. For versions
of the wave pattern with a dot, see 4, 12. In Afrasiyab the
pattern, occurring without the dot, is drawn with a
heavier line (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. xil, bottom;
Stoliarov Photograph 2, row B, no. 1, page 366).
87 FRAGMENT
W 14.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A black line at the rim, and a circumscribing band in
which a lozenge divided into four smaller ones alternates
with a biconvex form. The only example found with this
decoration.
88 WASTER (bottom)
W 9 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
An inscription. The style, with the roughly drawn top of
a ^<2/ suggesting a foliation, is uncommon in Nishapur but
occurs in wares of Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 3,
row A, no. 4, page 367). These wares have been assigned
by Ernst Cohn -Wiener {Asia, February, 1941, p. 103) to
the eleventh century, and by Arthur Upham Pope (Sur-
vey^ 11, p. 1477, fig, 526 B) to the tenth. 88 was found near
the kilns that produced the alkaline-glazed ware; its dis-
covery proves that uncommonness in the pottery of
Nishapur is not necessarily a sign of importation. Loca-
tion suggests that 88 was made in the eleventh century.
89 a,b WASTER
H 17.8 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.29
Typical reddish clay. In shape like 90. Base (89a) covered
with engobe in usual manner; bottom (89b) decorated
with a duck (compare 90).
90 BOWL
D 34.6, H 10.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.113
Reddish clay. Base, which has a groove, is covered with
engobe but is unglazed. Exterior undecorated. Though
of large size, the bowl is decorated in only the simplest
way, with a sawtooth at the rim and a duck in the center.
The duck's back lacks the added spots seen on 66. The
pigment is brownish black. The glaze is slightly greenish
where thick; it is thin in places near the rim. Fired
inverted.
Black on White Ware
4
Polychrome on
White Ware
The potters of Khurasan and Transoxiana used not only
a simple black to decorate their earthenware coated with
white slip, but black in combination with other colors.
The most popular combination was black and red (Color
Plate 5, page xvi). The other colors are olive green, bright
green, bright yellow, and raw sienna. On no piece are all
these colors used at once. The black varies, as it does in
the black on white ware, usually having either a purple or
a brown cast (Color Plate 6, page xvii). The clear lead
glaze applied over the pigments is sometimes stained by
the black in its immediate vicinity. In a few pieces (44, 47)
a black containing chrome tints the glaze a transparent
yellow. The red, at its best, is a fine tomato red that shows
up vividly on the white engobe and provides an excellent
contrast to the black (3, 4, 12, 14, 19, 26). On some of
these pieces the red is as intense as that found on the
Turkish wares of Isnik, and the fact that this color, in the
ceramics of Iran and Transoxiana, is apparently restricted
to the present ware seems an extraordinary abstinence.
The duller, poorer reds approach orange or red brown,
the latter a tonality commoner in Afrasiyab than in Nish-
apur. The material, a sKp, contains iron. It is usually ap-
plied thickly; when applied thinly it produces only an
orange stain (18, 21). The olive green, also an opaque
slip, is applied thickly. It varies from a full olive to a
greenish gray, and it sometimes yellows the glaze slightly
at the edges of its application. The bright green, a trans-
parent color derived from a copper base, is similar to that
used on other Nishapur pottery, notably the buff and the
color-splashed wares. It appears in the polychrome ware
infrequently and less often in Nishapur than Afrasiyab.
The transparent yellow was not often used in Nishapur,
and the raw sienna was employed for linear decoration only.
The clay body of the polychrome on white ware is usu-
ally reddish, varying in color like that of the black on
white. A few of the vessels are made of a well-levigated,
compact, strongly red clay that is so smooth as to be al-
most shiny (48, 59). Because no wasters of this type have
been found anywhere, such pieces cannot yet be assigned
to a particular place of manufacture. The clay is charac-
teristic neither of Nishapur nor Afrasiyab.
Although there is a great variety of shape and size in
the ware as found in Nishapur, most of the vessels do not
differ markedly in either of these respects from the closely
associated black on white ware. However, one shape
found in the present ware is found in no other. This is a
bowl with a silhouette that tapers down from the rim in
an almost straight line and then at the base, immediately
above the foot ring, cuts in almost horizontally (in some
cases even forming a groove), the change of direction
corresponding to the angle between the bowl's interior
wall and the bottom (20). A feature of such bowls is a
base with a well-turned foot ring rather than the ordinary
slight concavity or beveled recess. In section, the two
sides of this foot ring are vertical, the inner side in some
cases blending into the base. Another characteristic shape
in the polychrome bowls is a sharply upturned rim that
rises from a ridge on the exterior wall (52-55). This fea-
ture, unhke the silhouette just noted, occurs also in bowls
of Groups 2, 5, and 9.
It might be imagined that, simply with the addition of
red to the color scheme, there would be no substantial
modification of the designs found in the black on white
ware. This is not the case, however. Apart from some ex-
ceptions among the polychrome vessels decorated with
certain types of inscription or pseudo inscription (17, 40),
the decoration of the two wares is quite different. There
is even a difference of spirit. Restraint in the application
of ornament is one of the chief characteristics of the black
on white ware; with the addition of red, the restraint
tends to disappear. There are, it is true, a number of ves-
sels of fine quality with well-drawn ornament applied in
restricted areas only (3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 31, 36,
41 ), but many have a closely packed decoration or a pat-
tern that repeats evenly over the entire surface. Decora-
tions of the latter kind may consist of some simple motif
128
Polychrome on White Ware
129
such as a petal (6) or a disk with superimposed spots (8).
Whereas the petal motif occurs on bowls of both normal
and smaU size, the dotted disk, used in this fashion, seems
to occur only on smaU bowls and dishes.
The chief decoration on the walls of many bowls in
this ware consists of Arabic script (4) or pseudo script
(32, 39, 40). As it is in the black on white ware, this cal-
Ugraphic decoration is treated in many ways. The letters
may be adorned with flourishes (4, 9), interweavings (41 ),
or knottings (14). They may be supplemented by some
such element as an interwoven band (16), or they may
themselves be turned into a decorative band (32). The
inscription may encircle the wall in continuous text with-
out repeating (ll), it may continuously repeat a word or
two (2, 10, 12), or it may appear in short lengths (9).
When in short lengths and presenting one or two words
repeated, the unit may alternate with some small decora-
tive feature (17, 3l). Repetitive inscriptions in continu-
ous form may appear in two bands (19) or even more.
The actual forms of the letters are generally not differ-
ent from those occurring in the black on white ware, ex-
ceptions being an extremely broad treatment (4), an in-
corporation of repeated blocklike half-leaves in a debased
inscription (13), and an extreme elongation of wavy verti-
cals (9). Just as these forms are not represented in the
black on white ware, certain forms typical of the black on
white — the letters with large triangular heads or with fo-
Kated tops (Group 3, 14, 15) — are not seen here. In
treatment, the inscriptions range from the boldness of 4
to the refinement of 41, from the constant width of letter
exampled on 4 to the contrasts of 2, from the static qual-
ity of 14 to the active cursive hand of 11. Not dupHcated
in the black on white ware is a particular type of simple
lettering, closely packed, its verticals giving the impres-
sion of radii, as they repeat continuously around the waU
(18-21, 27).
The inscriptions are commonly in black, occasionally
in red, and, on rare examples, in green. Letters in red are
often outhned in black (4) or given black touches (35).
Letters in green (none are illustrated) always resemble
those of 19 and 30; they are outhned in black when on a
red ground, in red when on a white ground. In some of
the inscriptions that encircle a wall, most of the letters
will be in black, with a few in red. This change of color
was probably an imitation of a long-famihar custom in
Arabic manuscripts, in which certain words are written
in red. The change of color in the ceramic inscriptions has
no demonstrable significance, and one may assume that
the potter either lacked literary understanding or chose to
ignore it in favor of artistic sensibihty. Occasionally the
lettering or pseudo lettering is painted in reserve, espe-
cially in a group of vessels whose color scheme includes
olive green (43, 45, 47).
A tendency in the polychrome on white ware, as men-
tioned earHer, is to treat an inscription as a band of deco-
ration. This is achieved by various expedients, such as
adding decorative forms in another color (34) or adding
outhned areas filled with dots and other elements (l, 10,
11). The latter treatment, unknown in the black on white
ware, is also to be seen in the ware decorated with yeUow-
staining black (Group 8, 11, 12), which ware in turn has
relationships to luster ware of the tenth and eleventh cen-
turies (Group 6, 39). The fashion of the dotted areas was
widespread. The earhest known use of such compartments
in conjunction with inscriptions occurs in a manuscript of
about 955 (Rice, The Unique Ibn al-Bawwab Manuscript in
the Chester Beatty Library^ p. 18, n.l, pi. vna). Another way
of converting an inscription into a band of decoration was
to add vertical strokes among the letters (27); these
strokes are frequently decorated with a bead of black
(19, 26).
Aside from bowls decorated with a repeating small
motif or one of the many forms of inscription, there are
examples treated in a more ornamental style, for instance,
22 and 28. In a few cases the design is enlarged to cover
both walls and bottom — the bird on 46, for example, and
the human figure of 48. In Nishapur the introduction of
human figures is generally confined to the buff ware. The
connections between the two wares are not strong,
amounting only to the presence in both of such figural
representations and the use of a particular rim decoration
of grouped vertical fines and spaces (58).
A simpler, more formal style of overall decoration is
that of introducing wide bands, usually four, that extend
to the rim from a small square in the center (51) or that
appear to overlap there (52-55), producing an effect of
rotation. The use of this type of decoration, found also
in Afrasiyab, Gurgan, and Lashkari Bazar, continued in
the eleventh century.
A prominent decorative feature of this ware is a band
painted in color and then adorned by simple dots of white
sfip or, more elaborately, by rosettes dotted with white
sfip. The simply dotted bands, which are also common in
the pottery of Merv, Afrasiyab, and Gurgan, may circum-
scribe a wall (19, 20) or bottom (20), define compartments
of various shapes (23, 28), or appear in interwoven form
on the bottom of a bowl (20). The bands with dotted
rosettes usually appear near the rim (20).
The rim decorations of the polychrome on white bowls
are rarely as important as they are in the black on white
ware, where they sometimes constitute nearly the entire
design. One of the favorite rim decorations in the black
on white ware, the rectangle of black with a sohd hne or
a Kne of dots often added beneath it, was not found in the
present ware during the course of the Metropohtan's ex-
cavations. However, a polychrome bowl found later, re-
130
Polychrome on White Ware
putedly in Nishapur, has two such labels alternating with
a very conventional leafy assembly {Sept mille ans d^art en
Iran Exhibition Catalogue, no. 589). Another common
rim decoration in the black on white ware, a wave pattern,
expressed as a simple wavy Hne supplemented by dots,
appears in the present ware infrequently, and then only
in a complicated version (7, 14). Just as the simple wave
pattern does not appear in the polychrome ware, so cer-
tain rim patterns common in the polychrome are unknown
in the black on white. The most conspicuous of these is a
simple edging of circular spots (18, 20, 21, 26, 28, 29).
This decoration, which is also to be seen in the opaque
yellow ware of Nishapur (Group 7, 1-4), occurs in wares
with colored engobe of Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, ^^Afra-
siyab," pis. xni, xxn), the polychrome on white of Gur-
gan (MetropoHtan's sherd collection), and bowls of the
so-called Sari type, some of which may have come from
Gurgan (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 2lB). The edg-
ing of spots also occurs in the ninth-century luster ware
of Iraq (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xin, no. 2).
One rim motif that the present ware and the black on
white ware of Nishapur share is the sawtooth, used either
continuously (6, 14) or in hmited lengths (7, 40a). Its
color, in this ware, is always black. Less frequently found
in the present ware than in the black on white, it does not
occur on any bowls to which green has been added.
A further distinction between the polychrome ware and
the black on white ware of Nishapur can be seen in their
exterior decoration. Hardly appearing in the black on
white ware, exterior decoration is reasonably common
here. The type most often seen is a cable pattern in black
near the rim (20b). Certain patterns, such as a group of
four curved strokes (2, 11), seem to be pecuhar to this
ware. About the decorated circles and vertical lines on the
exterior of 48 no conclusion can be drawn, since the bowl
is exceptional. The streaks of color found on the exteriors
of color-splashed bowls are not to be seen on the poly-
chrome bowls, nor are the claw-shaped strokes of black
or the V-shapes fiUed with vertical strokes that are so
common in the buiBF ware — yet another indication that
each ware had its own repertoire of designs for the out-
side as well as the inside and that this exclusiveness
applied even to the simplest of motifs.
Comparison of the many pieces of this ware known to
have come from Afrasiyab and the vicinity of Samarkand
with those known to have come from Nishapur reveals
that a great body of the eastern ware was either not im-
ported to Nishapur at all or imported in such small quan-
tity that it was not found in the excavations. Typical
Afrasiyab pieces are distinguished by the wide strokes of
the calligraphy on the wall, foKate forms or interlaced
bands on the bottom, or a decoration on the wall of inter-
laced bands and open hearts.
1 PLATTER
D 38.8, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The only complete platter of this ware found, this finely
made piece was retrieved with 2 from a well that had been
sunk from an upper-level plaster floor in an important
building, the location indicating a date not earlier than
the last part of the tenth century and perhaps later. The
base is slightly concave, the center very thin. A ridge on
the exterior corresponds to the vertical rise from the bot-
tom on the interior. 1 and 2 resemble one another in the
quality of their color. Their red is a little dull (see Color
Plate 5, page xvi) in contrast to the intense red of 3, 4,
and 9, and their white, unlike the pure white of the latter
pieces, has a yellow tinge. The inscription on 1, unde-
ciphered, is drawn in a brownish black pigment heavily
loaded with clay; it lacks the precision of the inscription
on 2. The base of the letters is at the rim. The heavy ring
painted at the juncture of the rim and bottom is typical of
the pottery of Afrasiyab. So too are the dotted compart-
ments that occupy the spaces between the letters and con-
tain black-centered "eyes" and flowerets. Dotted com-
partments like these are to be seen on several examples
of this ware (10, 11), Since they are more common on
Afrasiyab bowls, they may be considered an indication of
Polychrome on White Ware
131
1:4
importation. Several bowls found in Afrasiyab have one
or more points of resemblance to 1 (Maysuradze, "Afra-
siyab," pis. VII, XVIII, XX, upper).
A Nishapur bowl in the Freer Gallery of Art {Medieval
Near Eastern Ceramics^ fig. 6) has dotted compartments
filled with a small quatrefoil with a white center. In addi-
tion to the black and red of 1, this bowl has spots of green ;
a common feature in Afrasiyab, such spots are almost un-
known in the polychrome on white ware made in Nisha-
pur. The form of its whirling center is also characteristic
of Afrasiyab.
Fragments of platters similar to 1, though of inferior
quality, were found elsewhere in the excavations, the
glaze of one having a strong green cast. Some of these
fragments are in the Metropolitan Museum, others in
Teheran.
2 BOWL
D 35.8, H 10.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.15
(Color Plate 5, page xvi)
(^a), but the J {dal) which in some inscriptions in the
black on white ware resembles the f {kaf)^ is here entirely
different, for it is doubled closely together and has prac-
tically no oblique stroke above it. The final ijiaf) is a
solid blob, and the * (am) and the k {ghairi) are always
placed above the connecting links that are a feature here
and on many other examples of this ware.
Roughly following the form of the letters are compart-
ments outlined in red filled with a hatching of thick black
strokes alternating with thin red ones. This particular
type of decoration was found on no other bowl in Nisha-
pur. The nearest resemblances occur on some polychrome
on white bowls of Afrasiyab (G. Migeon, V Orient musul-
man^ Paris, 1922, pi. 17, no. 151; Pezard, Ceramique^ pi.
xciv, top) ; the hatching on these pieces, however, is in
one color only, and the lines are of equal thickness.
The treatment on the bottom of 2, a formal design of
interweaving bands and palmettes in red outline on a
black-dotted ground, contained within a boldly drawn
black circle, is again unusual in Nishapur, strengthening
the case for importation. The motif seen on the exterior,
consisting of four semicircular strokes, appears six times
around the bowl. The same motif occurs on the exterior
of 11.
The dotted ground on the bottom of 2 also occurs on a
bowl reputedly and probably from Nishapur, acquired by
the Metropolitan in 1956 (56.44; Dimand, Handbook^ fig.
100). In this bowl the dotting is used both as the back-
ground for the center decoration and on the wall between
the letters of an inscription. The center decoration, con-
sisting of a palmette growing out of a pair of half-palmettes,
is drawn in a style reminiscent of pieces found in Merv
(Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 244, fig. 15), a city that had many
kilns operating in the tenth century. The drawing is less
sure than on 2, the color poorer, the red being yellowish,
the black, brownish.
1:4
Found with 1, complete except for one small fragment.
Reddish body, buff surface, warm white engobe. The base,
slightly concave, is thickened at the center, in which re-
spect, it is like the base of 9. Base has no engobe but is
glazed. The sides flare widely for a short distance, then
less so for the remainder of the height. The change of
angle near the base is characteristic of many bowls of
this ware.
Decorating the inside wall is an Arabic inscription, the
base of the letters toward the rim. It is drawn with more
finesse than the inscription on 1, the greater contrast be-
tween thick and thin strokes giving it more elegance. It
reads : Barakeh we al ghahta we al ni ^met we al-salameh
weal sa ^detal [ ?] (blessing, prosperity, good will, health,
and happiness to you). As is often the case in this ware,
there is no difference made between a 5^ {kaf) and a ^
3 BOWL
D 34.5, H 12.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.79
Covered inside and outside with pure white engobe. The
glaze, colorless, covers all but the base; in some places it
has spalled, due to the thickness of the engobe. The base,
turned thin, has a foot ring. The exterior is without deco-
ration. The colors on the interior are a vivid red and
an intense purplish black. Thanks to the whiteness of the
engobe and the transparency of the glaze, the effect is
brilliant. The Kufic letters at the left, black on red, have
their outlines scratched through to the engobe. The in-
scription consists of two words several times repeated:
probably alyumn (happiness) in a degenerate form (Pope,
Survey^ II, p. 1754, fig. 609). Above a row of black dots,
somewhat run in the glaze, is a secondary inscription, in
red only; this was repeated on the opposite (incomplete)
132
Polychrome on White Ware
wall. This inscription offers an excellent example of the
disintegration of Kufic into a formal pattern. The model
was perhaps the word harakeh (blessing) (ibid., fig.
608 K). This particular form, much used in the latter
part of the tenth century, continued in the Ghaznavid
period early in the eleventh century, as we know from the
excavations at Lashkari Bazar, the site of a Ghaznavid
palace (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar ^ II, pis. xiii, no. 126,
XIV, Bi) . For a variation of the form in the black on wiiite
ware, see Group 3, 57.
It has proved impossible to reconstruct the design on
the bottom of the bowl. The black object seen at the left
may be the remains of a small bottle or, more probably,
the lower portion of a tall narrow-footed ewer with a thin
handle and a long, thin spout. The assembly of half-
palmettes, leafy forms, and circles to be seen at the right
perhaps rose from the bottle or ewer on a stalk. A poly-
chrome on white bowl from the British Museum, reputedly
from Nishapur (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin^ November, 1961, p. 110, fig. 14), is decorated
with a ewer and a similar assembly thus connected. For
another example, with a ewer of different shape, probably
found in Nishapur, see Rice, Islamic Art^ fig. 44. Some of
the leafy forms on 3 are red, most are black. The majority
of the wider white lines among the forms, left in reserve,
are ornamented with black spots; the more delicate white
lines are scratched through the pigment to the engobe.
The assembly as a whole recalls the ornamental projec-
tions of chapter headings seen in Korans of the ninth cen-
tury and later (T. Arnold 8c A. Grohmann, The Islamic
Book^ Paris, 1929, pi. 10; Ettinghausen, Arab Paintings
p. 168; Abbott, Ars Islamica^ VIII, p. 80). Even the detail
of dots within the dividing white line is known (Rice,
The Unique Ibn al-Bawwab Manuscript in the Chester Beatty
Library^ pis. in, ix, fol. 282r). Fragments of an Afrasiyab
bowl with a generally similar assembly are to be seen in
Cohn-Wiener Photograph 1 in the Metropolitan (page
364). On this hovA the ornament does not have the heavily
outHned red disks seen on 3 ; instead it is flanked by ovals
containing a central spot, resembling an eye. (A compa-
rable "eye" occurs on 5.) For assemblies reminiscent of 3,
but of simpler construction, on bowls said to be, and
probably, found in Nishapur in recent years, see Sept mille
ans d^art en Iran Exhibition Catalogue, nos. 588, 589. In
these bowels there is no ewer, and the assemblies, appear-
ing twice, are connected by a line that crosses the bottom
of the vessel. Very simple forms, sometimes more crude,
consisting of fanlike assemblies connected by a simple
line, were found in Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 3,
row A, no. 2, page 367; Cohn-Wiener, Asia^ February,
1941, fig. 5; Tashkhodzhaev, Artistic Glazed Ceramics of
Samarkand^ p. 105, fig. 23). Even in very complicated
versions of this motif the basic structure of a line joining
tw^o tridentiike assemblies persists (ibid., p. 110, fig. 24).
In Afrasiyab this type of decoration seems to be stiffer
than that in Nishapur, as is well exemplified by a bowl
illustrated in Pugachenkova 8c Rempel, History of Art of
Uzbekistan^ fig. 232. It is dated by the authors to the
eleventh or twelfth century.
Filling out the decoration on 3 are several rosettes con-
sisting of six black spots surrounding a seventh. Larger,
more elaborate versions of this ornament, with short lines
radiating between the spots, occur on 28 and 29. A more
elaborate version also occurs on the British Museum's
bowl mentioned above, with dots rather than lines added
between the spots.
The place of manufacture of bowls exemplified by 3,
which is of the tenth or eleventh century, has yet to be es-
tablished, despite a theory that it was Afrasiyab (Erd-
mann, Berliner Museen^ XIV, p. 12, fig. 9). It may well
have been Nishapur, where the finest examples have been
found, but no wasters of such bowls have yet been discov-
ered in either location. The simpler forms referred to in
the preceding paragraph were surely made in Afrasiyab
and perhaps elsewhere as w^ell.
4 a,b BOWL
D 26.5, H 8.9 cm ; Sabz Pushau
MMA 36.20.57
Turned evenly and thinly, the base made with a foot ring.
A sharp change of angle occurs on the exterior where the
w^all and base join. The whole of the vessel is covered with
engobe; the glaze covers all but the base. No decoration on
the exterior. The fragments have been correctly assembled
with the possible exception of the group of letters at the
top (in 4a) and the upper fragment on the right. The let-
ters, which have their bases at the rim, are an intense red,
outlined in a deep black that here and there is purplish.
The ornamental foliations that grow out of the letters and
the small fishlike motif on the bottom are also black. The
engobe is pure white, the glaze colorless, the effect bril-
liant. The delicate leafy forms that make such a striking
contrast to the massive Kufic letters are a feature of an
eighth-century Egyptian script seen on gravestones (Has-
san, Al-fann al-Islamt fT Misr^ I, pi. 20). In the present
bowl they must be considered an archaism. In shape and
quality 4 is linked with many others (3, for example) that
cannot be dated earlier than the end of the tenth century.
Polychrome on White Ware
133
5 a,b BOWL
D 26, H 8.8 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
A vessel of the same shape as 4, even to the sharp change
of angle on the exterior where wall and base meet. How-
ever, the decoration lacks 4's precision of drawing, brilli-
ance of color, and elaboration of motif. The letters of the
repetitive radial ^inscription" seen at the right are in red
outlined with black, with a horizontal black stroke across
the center. Opposite the letters is an outlined band con-
taining a braid of short interwoven strokes. Spaced be-
tween these designs at the rim are two tuliplike forms,
their exteriors having little excrescences, their centers
decorated with a median stroke and two dots. (The tulip-
like forms are sometimes identified in art history books
as lotus buds.) Alternating with these four units is an eye-
like motif consisting of a circular ring with a large spot in
the center. On the bottom is a simple black spot.
Related bowls have been found in Nishapur and other
centers. An Afrasiyab bowl (Cohn-Wiener Photograph 2,
page 365) has the same kind of ^inscription," same band
of braid, and same tuliplike motif. In Afrasiyab the tulip-
like device was employed in various closely related forms
(Tashkhodzhaev, Artistic Glazed Ceramics of Samarkand^
p. 117, fig. 29). A close relative of the tuliplike form has
been found in the pottery of Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI,
p. 270, fig. 29). A polychrome on white bowl in the British
Museum (cited at 3 in another connection) shows an
elaboration of this form in that it is enclosed within two
half-palmettes. A related piece, ascribed by A. U. Pope
to Rayy (Pope, Survey^ II, p. 1476, fig. 525), was doubt-
less made somewhere to the east of Rayy, perhaps Nisha-
pur. The eyelike motif of 5 is to be seen on bowls from
Afrasiyab and was further developed in Gurgan and pro-
vided with a stalk; it appears as a flower on bowls of the
Sari type, two of which are in the Metropolitan (24.147.2;
Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics^ pi. 30). For another ex-
ample, see Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 2 IB, Drawings
of three versions of the tuliplike motif are shown :
6 BOWL
D 27.3, H 7.7 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
In shape like many of the bowls of this ware, with a sharp
change of angle on the exterior near the foot ring. The ex-
terior is covered with engobe and glaze but is undeco-
rated. The base is covered with engobe but is unglazed.
Decoration: a sawtooth at the rim and a petal motif re-
peated. The sawtooth and the two round spots that com-
prise the upper part of the petal are in purplish black; the
lower portion of the petal, a roughly triangular dot
slightly separated from the others, is red. Although the
motifs may be viewed as placed in concentric rings, the
potter had a more elaborate pattern in mind. He first
placed two lines of the motif across the bowl from rim to
rim, crossing them at right angles in the center. Each
quadrant thus formed was then filled with a V of seven of
the motifs, within which was placed a V of three. A vari-
ation of the motif, consisting of three separate circular
spots, two of red and one of black, was found on a frag-
ment of a thinly potted bowl; this fragment is in the Met-
ropolitan (40.170.488a,b). Bowls decorated in the manner
of 6 were found in Afrasiyab by Stoliarov, but it is not pos-
sible to say unequivocally that such bowls were made in
one city or the other, or both. A small bowl found since
1940, probably in Nishapur, has been deemed a product
of Afrasiyab (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ XIV, p. 12, fig.
11), For the use of the petal motif in another ware of
Nishapur, see Group 5, 46.
The motif, an ancient one, figures in various decorations
of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras. It occurs in tex-
tiles of the third century found at Dura-Europus (A. G.
Weibel, Two Thousand Years of Textiles^ New York, 1952,
pi. 2), Coptic textiles of Egypt of approximately the fourth
to the seventh century (O. Wulff W. F. Volbach,
Spdtantike und Koptische Stoffe aus Agyptischen Grabfunden^
Berlin, 1926, pis. 1, 7, 47), and in a silk twill of the Sa-
sanian period or shortly thereafter (Pope, Survey^ IV, pi.
201 B). In many instances the details are omitted, and the
petal appears as a "heart," for example, in Sasanian
stucco decoration (ibid., pi. 173A; Metropolitan Museum
32.150.4), Sasanian and post-Sasanian metal dishes (Pope,
Survey^ IV, pis. 215 B, 216 A; Sarre, Die Kunst des Alien
Persien^ pi. 110), and ninth-century wall paintings at
Samarra {Excavations at Samarra, 1936-1939^ I, pi. liii,
upper; Herzfeld, Die Malereien von Samarra^ pi. XLii,
figs. 8, 10, 11). Yet in spite of the almost universal use
of this motif in the decorative arts, for some unexplained
reason only in Khurasan and Transoxiana was it used in
the decoration of glazed earthenware. It appears not only
on these vessels with a white engobe but on vessels with a
colored engobe (Group 5, 38, 39, 46).
7 BOWL (restored)
D 13.5, H 4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.222
A finely made piece. Buff body. Base, flat, is covered with
engobe and is partly glazed. The engobe is pure white,
the glaze colorless, producing a brilliant effect. A narrow
band containing an elaboration of a wave design crosses
the bowl from rim to rim ; two short lengths of the band
are placed near the rim on opposite walls, beneath a
134
Polychrome on White Ware
length of sawtooth. The outlines of the bands and of the
forms within them are red; the sawtooth and the hatching
in the bands are black. In the Tashkent Museum is a small
bowl of similar quality with a comparable band, its motif
consisting of simulated Kufic constructed of curved red
lines supplemented with black spots.
8 BOWL
D 12.3, H 3.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.57
Red body, white engobe. Decoration: rows of disks
painted red with superimposed black spots, the colors less
brilliant than those of 6 and 7. This decoration was also
used on small dishes with vertical sides; part of such a
dish, found in the same location as 8, is in the Teheran
museum:
1:3
9 BOWL
D 47.5, H 16.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The largest of the red and black on white bow4s found,
this is shaped like 2, even to the slightly concave, thick-
ened base. The clay is red, the engobe pure white, the
glaze colorless. As on 3 and 4, the red is brilliant, the
black intense. The drawing is precise, with scratching used
throughout to produce the white lines. On the bottom, a
black rosette made of four heart-shaped petals defined by
white hairlines, a motif used in various media from Trans-
oxiana to Egypt (O. WulfiF W. F. Volbach, Spdtantike
und Koptische Stoffe aus Agyptischen Grabfunden^ Berlin,
1926, pi. 69). At the rim, bases toward the rim, three
(probably once four) groups of letters, unread, in black
and red. Their vertical extensions are greatly prolonged,
and thanks to a series of humps, give the impression of
being wavy. For further discussion of this point, see
Group 3, 38. Some of the letters end in triple forms,
roughly triangular, others in foliations, one with a curv-
ing stem enclosing a palmette. These extensions of the
letters are likewise humped. This form of calligraphy goes
back at least to the first quarter of the tenth century, since
it is found on an Egyptian textile dated H. 304 (916/7)
(Upton, Metropolitan Museum oj Art Studies^ 3, p. 159,
fig. 4). The Nishapur bowl is of the same century but
somewhat later. Whether it, and bowls like it, were made
in Nishapur as well as Afrasiyab, or only in Afrasiyab, has
yet to be determined.
Another form of lettering with wavy verticals occurs in
the black on white ware (Group 3, 52, 53). Yet another
form is to be seen on a plate, probably from Afrasiyab, in
which the letters have humps on one side only (Pope,
Survey^ II, p. 1764, fig. 618). This piece would seem to be
of later date than 9 since it also has the knotted Kufic so
popular with the Seljuqs of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries.
10a,b BOWL
D 19, H 7 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MIB
Red body. The bowl flares widely, but the wall curves in-
ward toward the top, making a graceful transition. The
principal decoration is a band of inscription repeating the
word barakeh (blessing). This is enclosed between two
strong lines of black, the lower of which forms the base of
the letters. The script, with its short curving strokes end-
ing in circular blobs, is not typical of Nishapur. The
shapes between the letters are outlined in red and tinted
a clear yellow. The dots within the shapes and the saw-
tooth rim pattern are black. Beneath the base line of the
inscription are two thin red lines. On the bottom (10b)
two curved black strokes forming a C enclose three thin
red strokes. On the exterior (10a) are arrow shapes sur-
mounted by an inverted V, the motif painted alternately
9 1:3
Polychrome on White Ware
135
red and black. The script, the unusual exterior decora-
tion, and the fact that only one such bowl was found, all
indicate that 10 was an import.
11 a,b BOWL
D 22.5, H 11 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Of the same shape as 10, Two inscriptions in a cursive
form of Kufic are painted in black, one across the bottom,
the other around the wall, with the bases of the letters
toward the rim. Beyond the fact that these inscriptions
do not repeat a single word, they are undeciphered. The
dotted shapes between the letters on the wall, outlined in
red as on 10, are here left with a white ground. A broad
red ring encircles the bowl beneath the inscription. The
decoration on the exterior (Ha), composed of semicircu-
lar strokes, duplicates that on 2 and appears to mark 11
as an import.
12 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 26, H 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Turned evenly and thinly with change of angle above the
foot ring, both features characteristic of bowls decorated
in intense red and black on a pure white engobe. The
gray area seen at the left is the surface of the body, ex-
posed by the spalling of both glaze and engobe. The ex-
terior, covered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated. The
main inscription, in purplish black, apparently consists
of the words al barr (beneficence) repeated. The Kufic
letters point downward from a base line that was painted
solid and divided as necessary by means of a point. The
tops of the pairs of tall letters, probably the definite ar-
ticle aZ, have been arbitrarily joined, contrary to the rules
of Arabic calligraphy. The secondary inscription, in red,
is meaningless pseudo Kufic like that of the secondary
inscription on 3, a bowl with similar physical characteris-
tics. A great number of fragments of bowls with similar
decoration were found. Some were of different shape : low,
with upturned rim. In some the black inscription was in
smaller letters, and the red inscription, similar to the
black, was made continuous. In 1954 the Metropolitan
acquired a complete bowl from Nishapur (54.141) so like
12 that it may have been made by the same potter. This
type of decoration is also to be seen in some examples
from Afrasiyab, but these are not always of the excellence
that appears to prevail in Nishapur. It is therefore by no
means unlikely that 12 was locally made.
13 BOWL
D 21.5, H 7.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.5
Red body. Poorly potted, with strongly concave base of a
type seldom seen in Nishapur. A Kufic inscription on one
wall, its base toward the rim, reads al yumn (happiness).
An alef and a lam have been added to it for symmetry, A
study fragment from Nishapur in the Metropolitan has the
same type of writing, but the piece itself differs in having
a transparent yellow glaze. This type of writing occurs in
the glazed ware of Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, ' 'Afrasiyab,"
pi. II, right) ; fragments from Afrasiyab in the Musee des
Arts Decora tifs, Paris, show similar scripts with the same
horizontal tops to the letters. The same formula, written
in the same style, was popular in many places, appearing
alone or with supplementary decoration. It occurs in con-
junction with small birds on a small bowl allegedly found
in Nishapur and considered to be an importation there
(Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ X, p. 11, fig. 9). On the op-
posite wall of 13 is a decorative band made of a debased
Kufic script. The spaces between the upright strokes are
filled with kafs that have been converted into curling
stems, each ending in a half-leaf. These are alternately
red and black. A circular black spot decorated the bottom.
In view of the unusual base, this is probably an import,
perhaps from Afrasiyab. Probably not earlier than the
end of the tenth century. A well-potted version was found
in the Qanat Tepe :
J y
1:3
14 BOWL FRAGMENT
L 29 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Divided between MMA, 40.170.486, and MIB
Part of a large, thinly turned bowl. Buff clay. Originally
the bowl was brilliant white, with decoration in intense
red and black. The glaze has crackled and spalled, leaving
the sawtooth border, doubtless once continuous, incom-
plete. Beneath this runs a band of an elaborated wave and
dot pattern. Common in the black on white ware of Nish-
apur, this pattern is rare in the present ware. The treat-
ment on 14 is exceptional in that both the waves and the
dots are connected to the borders by means of scratched
white lines. In a related fragment from Afrasiyab these
connections are straight instead of curved (Pope, Survey^
II, p. 1764, fig. 618). A second band on 16 consists of
Kufic script, its base toward the rim. This is mostly in
black, with two adjoining letters, one ending in a foliated
S-curve, in red. The script is enriched by knottings as
well as foliations. Such knottings appear on the fragment
from Afrasiyab mentioned above as well as on another
fragment from Afrasiyab in the Berlin Museum (Erdmann,
Faenza^ XXV, pi. xxvi g). An extreme form of this knotted
Kufic is to be seen in the painted inscription of the Pir-i-
^Alamdar at Damghan, Iran, built in 1027 (Pope, Survey^
136
II, fig. 588). The presence of such knottings on 14 indi-
cates that it was probably made in the eleventh century
and that it was possibly an import.
15 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 10.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.557
Part of a thin-walled bowl of considerable size. Buff clay.
The black, thin in places, indicating that the potter's
brush had run dry, has stained the glaze purplish. Deco-
ration consists of a repetitive pseudo inscription made up
of foliated S- and reverse S- forms separated by vertical
strokes. Even though the decoration as preserved is en-
tirely in black, it may originally have included red; a frag-
ment of a related bowl in Teheran has the same design in-
terrupted by red circles. This ^^double-S" motif figures in
the Russian collections that come from Afrasiyab. Most
of these seem to be more coarsely drawn than those found
in Nishapur. One cannot tell whether this means that
Afrasiyab exported its best ware or whether the ware was
made in both cities. Wasters have yet to be found in
either place.
Still other fragments were found on which the encir-
cling line is humped w^iere the vertical lines join it.
Polychrome on White Ware
the bowl as made. Centered on the bottom is a curllike
device :
17 BOWL
D 16.5, H 5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 39.40.27
Reddish clay. Warm-toned glaze. Decoration around the
wall of an inscription in black alternating with a yellowish
red circle (one missing). The black is brownish, indicating
that it contained iron in addition to manganese. The
word, probably a debased form of al yumn (happiness),
has two additional letters at the end for the sake of sym-
metry.
Small bowls similarly decorated, their glaze often hav-
ing a yellow or green tinge, were common in Nishapur,
Afrasiyab (Stoliarov Photograph 3, row B, no. 1, page
367), Bactria, and Gurgan. Since no examples wxre found
in the lower levels of Nishapur, we know that they were
not made before the late tenth century. Bowls with this
simple inscriptional decoration were also made without
the addition of red.
16 FRAGMENT
W 12.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.472
Body of well -levigated reddish clay. Flaring wall has a
moderate change of angle, producing a slightly upturned
rim. Although vessels with vertical or almost vertical rims
were common in Nishapur, the present shape was rare. It
is a shape that was used in Afrasiyab (Maysuradze, "Afra-
siyab," pi. XX, top). Decoration: a band of Kufic inscrip-
tion in black, its base toward the rim, and an ornamental
band in dull red. The latter was painted solid, then
scratched to give the effect of two crossing strands. This
treatment was commoner in Transoxiana than in Nisha-
pur. Because the script is similar to that on a fragment of
polychrome on white w^are from Afrasiyab (Erdmann,
Faenza^ XXV, pi. xxv e), 16 and a related fragment in the
Teheran museum are probably the remains of imported
pieces.
A low bowl with flaring wall similar to that of 16 was
found in Sabz Pushan, decorated on the inside with letter-
18 DISH
D 24, H 5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 37.40.13
— ^
1:3
Buff clay. Poorly potted. Pigment unevenly applied, glaze
yellowish. Exterior, covered with engobe, is unglazed. A
groove on the exterior near the base and another near the
edge of the base almost form a foot ring. The center of the
base is low, however, and only slightly concave. The prin-
cipal decoration, barely recognizable as Kufic script, oc-
curs in less degenerate versions on 19, 20, 26, and 27. The
vertical strokes, both wide and narrow^, are purplish brown.
Between the "inscription" and the spots that adorn the
rim, a band of red earth is so unevenly applied that it thins
1:3
ing like that of 12. Of the surviving fragments, none is
colored red, but it is not unlikely that there was red on
Polychrome on White Ware
137
from an orange stain to near invisibility. The dotted rim
occurs on other poorly made pieces (21), as well as on
those of fine quaHty (20, 26, 28, 29). On the bottom of 18
is a red V. A number of such crudely made pieces were
unearthed. They can reasonably be considered cheap ver-
sions of such a vessel as 20 and as of local manufacture.
19 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 23.6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
One of several closely related pieces (compare 20, 26),
this has a pure white engobe and a decoration in intense
red and deep black beneath a glaze that has no hint of
color. The principal motif, painted in two bands, red
above and black below, is a repeated formula, its base
toward the rim, probably representing either al yumn
(happiness) or al barr (beneficence). Between the letters
of the upper band are fine black vertical lines broken by
white-centered black ^^beads," and on the letters there are
small black and white rosettes. The white spots of the
latter are not pricked through the pigment but consist of
applied slip. The fine white lines between the letters of
the lower band are scratched through the black pigment.
Separating the bands of lettering is a black band adorned
with dots of white slip ; a similar band below the lower
inscription is probably the remains of a central decoration
in the manner of 20. Lettering like that of the upper band,
but without the rosettes, was found on the remains of both
small and large dishes. The embellishment of the line
with a "bead" upon it is to be seen in a more degenerate
form in the pottery of Gurgan and Amul, for example, on
a bowl in the Metropolitan (24.147.2).
20 a^b BOWL
D 25, H 9.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.7
Red body. The tapering shape, which cuts in just above
the base with a groove that forms the exterior of the foot
ring, is characteristic of a number of vessels decorated like
this, also of vessels decorated like 22. The exterior, save
for the base, is covered with engobe and glaze, the latter
eroded. The principal decoration on the wall consists of
an "inscription," perhaps alyumn (happiness), repeated,
in black, its base toward the rim. Alternating with the
thick vertical strokes of the alef3.nd lam is a thin stroke
of black, perhaps a decorative vertical extension above
the letter mim.
The fine white lines between the letters have been
scratched through the black. A dull yellow green, added
to the color scheme, has been used for the broad band
above the inscription as well as for the interlaced bands
that fill the bottom. The yellow green band on the wall,
edged by two narrow bands of red dotted with white, con-
tains a row of black disks, each adorned with three dots of
white slip. The rim has a row of black dots (compare 18,
21, 26, 28). The interlaced bands on the bottom, adorned
with dots of white slip, are common to many bowls of this
shape having similar designs on the wall. The cable pat-
tern on the exterior (20b) is also characteristic. It occurs
on 22, 26, 27, and 30.
For closely related pieces see Lane, Early Islamic Pottery,
pi. 19B, and Ceramic Art of Iran Exhibition Catalogue,
no. 63. The decoration of the bottom with dotted inter-
lacing bands was also practiced in Merv (Lunina, Trudy,
XI, p. 234, fig, 9, p. 244, fig, 15). In Afrasiyab bowls were
made in which interlaced bands enriched with dots were
extensively used in the decoration. These bowls are usu-
ally more convex than 20 and often include narrow panels
with a particular kind of half-leaf filling. As we have seen
in other instances, this is a case of a very frequent design
made in Afrasiyab that never appears in Nishapur. Vessels
of the shape of 20, with the groove just above the base but
without a foot ring, were also made in Merv (Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 262, fig. 26, bottom right).
21 BOWL
D 26, H 9.1 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.173
Poorly made. Exterior covered with engobe but glazed
only near the rim; undecorated. Base has a bevel; no en-
gobe on base. The "Kufic" around the interior wall, al-
though less degenerate than on 18, is essentially nothing
but a simple, bold design. It is in black, as are the dots at
the rim. Between these elements is a band of red slip, so
sparingly applied as to be in places almost invisible (com-
pare 18). On the bottom is a motif that appears to be an
eye — a black spot within a red outline — ^but which is
probably only a loosely drawn circle containing a disk.
This feature, like the dotted rim, is also to be found on
polychrome on white bowls of high quality. An example
is in the collection of Richard Ettinghausen. The bottom
motif also occurs in the ware decorated in yellow-staining
black.
138
22 BOWL
D 24.8, H 10 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Like 20 in two respects, overall shape and cable pattern on
exterior. Interior decoration: black half-palmettes flank-
ing red pear shapes, with rosettes in the spaces. The half-
palmettes are decorated with lines scratched through to
the engobe. The pear shapes contain an ambiguous motif
in black and red. Although it catches the eye thus:
The true motif was probably intended as a stem that turns
upward and becomes a two-lobed half-leaf, pointed at the
top and ending with a curl at the bottom :
Although intermediate examples are lacking, it is to be
noted that a simplified form, without capsulation.
was used in the Parthian period as an independent motif,
occurring on a metal dish found in Armenia {Mtskheta^ I,
Tiflis, 1958, p. 64, fig. 27). Probably the earliest example
of the complete capsulated motif occurs on a ninth-century
luster bowl from Iraq (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 1 IB) :
In somewhat the same form it also appears on a luster tile
that was imported to Susa, Tunis, in the ninth century
(Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture^ II, pi. 86A, no. 17) :
Polychrome on White Ware
A more elaborate version, also from Iraq, is illustrated in
Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939^ I, pi. lxv, lower cut;
In another version, on a luster bowl of the late tenth or
early eleventh century found in Fustat (Lane, Early Is-
lamic Pottery^ pL 23 A) the foliate form is more pronounced :
With only a little change in the components, the form
loses its foliate character and resembles a bird's head, as
can be seen on a related Nishapur polychrome on white
bowl in the Teheran museum (Pope, Masterpieces of Per-
sian Art^ pi. 44, bottom; the assignment to the Metropoli-
tan Museum is erroneous) :
A distinctive and well-designed filling was evolved at
Merv in the twelfth century which is more subtly ambig-
uous, or rather decoratively attractive, but not clear.
The rosettes on the walls of 22 consist of a central black
dot and ring of white dots on a reddish disk, enclosed
within a ring of large overlapping black spots. Related
rosettes occur in the pottery of Gurgan (Erdmann, Ber-
liner Museen^ X, p. 11, fig. 7) and in Amul (a bowl in the
Metropolitan, 24.147.2), although in this pottery they are
usually placed on stalks, like flowers.
The design on the bottom of 22 consists of a white
square, whose corners extend onto the walls. Filling the
square are five rosettes, differing from those on the walls
in that they have dull green centers. Between these ro-
settes are pear-shaped motifs with black grounds, each
ornamented with a curled line scratched through to the
white engobe. This decoration is not unrelated to the am-
biguous motif in the pear shapes on the wall. A more
elaborate version of this scratched curl occurs on 3.
Polychrome on White Ware
139
23 JAR FRAGMENT
H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.481
Reddish clay. Engobe applied so thinly that on the inte-
rior (not illustrated) the undecorated white surface is
streaked with brown where the body shows through. The
circle at the right is brownish red ; the dark, curving band,
containing a line of white spots, is purplish black. To the
left of the band is a vertical tubular lug; the jar, which had
vertical sides, originally had two such lugs. Painted on
the lug in a speckly green is a cable pattern. The small
compartments between the circle and the curving band
are filled with a linear pattern in the same green, which
contains chrome and stains the glaze a clear yellow. A
unique piece, imported.
24 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 16 cm ; Village Tepe
Divided between MMA (study piece) and MIB
Reddish clay, thinly turned. Decoration: a horse and a
bird in bright red slip, outlined in purplish black. The
linear pattern filling the background, similar in style to
that in the compartments of 23, is painted in raw sienna
and stains the glaze locally a clear yellow. The curl on the
right, found on only one other piece, 28, is to be seen on
bowls decorated with birds made in Afrasiyab (May-
suradze, "Afrasiyab," pi. xxii). A unique piece, imported.
25 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 10 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.506
Well -levigated, reddish, unusually smooth clay. The base,
which is flat and not glazed, has an almost polished sur-
face. Decoration: a bird in purplish black, the outlined,
dotted areas surrounding it painted in a dark raw sienna
that yellows the glaze locally. An import.
26 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 17.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.490
Reddish body. Thinly turned, with cleanly cut foot ring.
Base is covered with engobe but is not glazed. The exte-
rior is decorated with a band of cable design similar to that
of 20 except that the strokes are; narrower in the shank and
broader at the ends. The decoration on the interior in-
cludes a repetitive * inscription" around the wall in the
style of 19. The inscription, painted beneath a colorless
glaze, is a vivid tomato red outlined in a black that, where
thin, is a cool brown. A horizontal line of spots in white
slip adorns the letters ; the spaces between them contain
a thin line with a black "bead" (for comment on this, see
19). Beneath the inscription is a broad band of black,
made to resemble a succession of leaves by means of
scratched white lines. The bottom is filled with a conven-
tional flower and leaves in red and black, the flower
adorned with black spots and surrounded by dots of white
slip. Just above the bottom of the bowl and at the rim are
rows of black spots. Found in a location that was still
active in the early eleventh century.
A fragment in the Teheran museum with wall decora-
tion similar to that of 26 has, just above the bottom, an
interlaced band with angular intersections. In other ver-
sions of this bowl, flowers and leaves, like those on the
bottom of 26, take the place of the band of lettering
around the wall.
27 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 11.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.615
Related in design to 20, with the exterior showing the
identical cable design. The main decoration consists of
letters in black, their bases toward the rim, separated by
scratched lines. Between each pair of verticals an orna-
mental thin line is introduced for contrast. Around the
rim, swags of purpKsh brown with superimposed white
dots enclose vertical strokes of purplish brown. Filling
the spaces between the swags are greenish curls contained
within an orange outline,
A complete bowl like 27, obviously from the same fac-
tory, appeared on the market after 1942, Its bottom is
decorated with a red and green bird and three circular
green spots, and its exterior has the same cable decoration.
28 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.476
In shape like 20. Glaze has a warm yellow cast. The black
is purplish. On the wall, enclosed within an interlacing
white-dotted black band, is a bright red rosette bordered
by black spots with short radial lines between them (the
pigment ran during the firing). The rosette has a center
of a superimposed black spot surrounded by dots of white
slip. A similar design fills the bottom of 29. For a similar
version of these rosettes, see 3. Rosettes with dots rather
than lines between the bordering spots occur on a poly-
chrome on white bowl, reputedly from Nishapur, in the
British Museum (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin^ November, 1961, p. 110, fig. 14). Elsewhere on
28, contained within black bands, is a large curl, black on
red. Such curls are a feature of Afrasiyab (further infor-
mation on this point at 24). Filling some of the doubly
outlined areas between the interlacing bands are curl and
dot designs in a greenish yellow pigment that stains the
clear glaze yellow. An import.
140
Polychrome on White Ware
29 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 17 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MMA 40.170.626
Smooth red clay. The cavity of the base, which has a foot
ring, is covered with engobe, but the glaze (now dis-
integrated) descends only about three-quarters of the dis-
tance between the rim and foot. Decorating the bottom is
an elaborate rosette in green slip with a red center. For
comment on this motif, see 28. A red band, bordered in
black and adorned with a line of spots in white slip, en-
circles the bottom ; a second such band encircles the wall
beneath the customary rim border of black spots (their
color now lost). Between these bands appears an inscrip-
tion in black, its base toward the rim. It does not seem to
be repetitive, in contrast to those of 26, 27, 30, and others,
and the end of one word and beginning of another have
been preserved. The rarity of this type of lettering in
Nishapur as well as the smoothness of the clay suggest
that the piece was imported.
30 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The exterior of this piece has the same cable pattern that
appears on 20, 22, 26, and 27. The principal decoration
on the interior consists of an inscription in black, in the
manner of 19, with the letters defined by lines scratched
through to the white engobe. The letters appear on a red
ground.
The motif in the register below the inscription is col-
ored olive green. At the rim, contained within swags of
red and black, is a motif in black resembling two upside-
down L's thickened almost to triangles and placed back to
back (see also 50). Perhaps made in Nishapur; otherwise
made either in Khurasan or Transoxiana. For a bowl with
similar rim decoration, see Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^
pi. 19B, or Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 559 B. The double -L
motif was not confined to Khurasan or Transoxiana, how-
ever, or even to the polychrome on white ware, since it
appears on an opaque white ware bowl found in Nishapur
but presumably made in Iraq (Group 6, 1) as well as on an
opaque white ware bowl found in Susa (Koechlin, Les
Ceramiques^ pi. xii, no. 84).
31 BOWL
D 20, H 13.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
At the rim, a band of grayish green between two red lines.
Beneath this, in black, an inscription, with base toward
the rim, consisting of the words alyumn (happiness) with
two letters added for symmetry (compare 13, 17). Alter-
nating with the inscription is a development of the simple
ring to be seen on 17.
32 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.467
Unusual greenish glaze. On the exterior, which is un-
decorated, the glaze, extending only a little way over the
rim, is yellow, probably because the bowl was fired near
one whose glaze contained chrome. Decoration: a band of
pseudo inscription resembling Kufic. This is in black,
dulled in the firing. Above and below, bands of red. A
black band on the rim.
33 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 14.2 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40,170.557
The border decoration, carelessly painted in purplish
black, consists of vertical strokes traversed by a '^beaded"
center line and linked by a base line. Beneath this is a
motif in orange red, consisting of two opposed curls and
some short strokes descending from a base line. The sym-
metrical reversal of this motif seems to be an imitation of
certain textiles in which such a treatment is common. An
unusual piece.
34 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 5.3 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MMA 40.170.558
Yellowish buff clay. The leafy decoration in vivid red was
applied before the inscription, since in some places the
black of the inscription is superimposed on it. The white
lines separating the letters and defining the leaves were
scratched with a point. Not typical of Nishapur.
35 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 9.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.552
Reddish clay. Glaze faintly green. Decoration: an inscrip-
tion in vivid red with added strokes in black. No other ex-
ample was found of such lettering in this ware. A similar
effect of added lines projecting from the tops of the letters
occurs in the black on white ware (Group 3, 36).
36 DISH
D 13.5, H 4.2 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.163
Yellowish buff clay. Flat base, covered with both engobe
and glaze, as is the exterior. The exterior is undecorated.
Interior; the simulated writing, in four short bands around
the rim and one on the bottom, is in black on red. The
spaces between the "letters" are filled with a vinelike de-
sign of great delicacy. A variation of this writing, painted
Polychrome on White Ware
141
as a single radial band extending from the edge of the bot-
tom almost to the rim, occurs on another Nishapur bowl
in the Metropolitan (40.170.616). In the museum of Tash-
kent is a dish with a narrow band of similar writing ex-
tending across it from rim to rim. The introduction into
inscriptions of vinelike decoration is paralleled in inscrip-
tions in early eleventh-century textiles of Egypt (Kiihnel,
Islamische Stoffe^ pi. 7; N. P. Britton, A Study of Some Early
Islamic Textiles in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston^ Boston,
1938, fig. 50).
37 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 4.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.553
Buff clay, brilliant white engobe, colorless glaze. Exterior
has traces of a red and black decoration, apparently con-
sisting of vertical black strokes and horizontal curls in red.
On the interior wall, decoration consists of black -pupiled
peacock eyes in black-dotted compartments with vivid red
outlines. A piece of outstanding quality. In the period
since 1942 the Teheran museum has acquired a cup from
Nishapur decorated like 37. Similar in style is a bowl from
Afrasiyab in the British Museum ; in addition to black and
red it has yellow green spots. In view of the rarity of such
pieces in Nishapur, they were possibly imported. How-
ever, the attribution of such first-rate pottery entirely to
Afrasiyab has by no means been confirmed.
38 FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 4.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.559
The motif is a trefoil in reserve. Delicate outlines in red,
not visible in the illustration, were drawn first and then
filled in with black. Where thick, this is an intense black,
where thin, it is yellowish. The trefoil contains pale deco-
rative strokes and dots of red.
Neither the form of the trefoil nor its added strokes
were duplicated in other ceramic finds of Nishapur. The
decorative strokes occur, however, in the fine polychrome
on white ware made in Afrasiyab; 38 was doubtless im-
ported from there. Found in the same cellar as 39.
39 FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 7.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.471
Smooth red clay. Base, which has a foot ring, is covered
with engobe but is not glazed. Decoration: two lines of
miniature simulated Kufic, the shorter in red, the longer
in black. Found in the same cellar as 38. Found elsewhere
in the excavations was a fragment of a large bowl that had
similar "writing" encircling the rim. Comparable "writ-
ing" occurs in the black on white ware (Group 3, 41) and
in the ware decorated with yellow-staining black (Group
8, 32). In the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, is a small poly-
chrome on white bowl on which this script, extending
from rim to rim, is doubled for a short distance on the
bottom and at either end.
40 a,b,C BOWL FRAGMENTS
W of 40c 5.5. cm ; various provenances
40a, b MIB
40c MMA 40.170.560
Examples of miniature simulated Kufic, drawn in purplish
black and red. The script on 40b is a diminutive form of
that seen on 19 and other vessels. The script on the other
fragments, even further removed from true writing, re-
sembles that on 32. Compare Group 3, 41, 50.
41 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 16.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
The chief element of the decoration is a carefully drawn
inscription in intense black, its base toward the rim, con-
sisting of the word barakeh (blessing). A point was used to
scratch the white lines that make the elements of the kaf
seem to interlace. On the bottom of the bowl, a design of
looped half-palmettes, again with scratched lines. On the
wall, a black-dotted area outlined in vivid red with two
large red spots. Probably an import. Closely related writing
occurs on a bowl from Afrasiyab (Pope, Survey^ V, pi.
560 A), while the decoration on the bottom is a feature on
a bowl excavated at Afrasiyab by Stoliarov (Stoliarov
Photograph 4, row A, no. 9, page 367). Bowls said to have
been found at Nishapur since 1942 have a similar decora-
tion on the bottom with a decoration on the wall consist-
ing of pear shapes enclosed in half-palmettes. In bowls in
the Tashkent Museum an ornament based on calligraphy
like that of 41, with interlacings suggested by scratching,
was adapted to form enclosing panels on the walls (Cohn-
Wiener Photograph 3, page 365). The panels are formed
by two parallel rings, one immediately below the saw-
tooth border at the rim, the other immediately above the
bottom; the rings are connected by two looped verticals.
42 FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.487
Reddish clay. The base, covered with engobe, is unglazed.
Stilt marks visible on bottom. Decoration : eight lines with
finials radiating from the central spot; the spot and four
of the finials in black, the lines and alternate finials in red.
No other piece thus decorated was found in Nishapur. It
is perhaps related to a design that appears in Merv
(Lunina, Trudy ^ XI, p. 244, fig. 15).
142
Polychrome on White Ware
43 BOWL
D 19, H 9.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.286
1:3
Sides flare widely, rim is slightly incurved, base almost flat.
Exterior undecorated. The color scheme of this bowl and
of 45, 46, and 47 — all of a distinctive type — makes exten-
sive use of olive green slip outlined in black. On the wall,
in reserve, is an inscription, its base toward the center of
the bowl. The band of lettering is probably derived from
the word yumn (happiness), repeated. The small black
spots added in the letters have no epigraphical meaning.
Such added dots are also a feature of the Nishapur buff
ware (Group 1, 63, among others). The central motif of
43, a circle with two leaflike projections enclosing a disk
with a V in reserve, is in black and olive green. The cir-
cular spots, one above and one below, are in red.
spots around the rim and the outlines of the design are
black. The bird's wings and feet are red, the rest of the
color is olive green. The representation of a bird's wings
detached from its body, as here, was practiced not only in
Nishapur but in Afrasiyab and the region of Sari. Of the
small group of pieces also represented by 43, 45, and 47,
only this one was found decorated with a bird.
47 PLATE FRAGMENT
W 17.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.468
Reddish clay. The glaze on the exterior somewhat yellow,
doubtless from the plate's having been placed close to a
chrome-painted piece in the kiln. On the interior, as in
43 and 45, a pseudo inscription in reserve fills an encircling
band. The outlines, drawn in a black that contains chrome,
have stained the glaze locally a clear yellow, as on 44. The
tops of some of the letters are deeply divided into three.
The colored areas between the letters are green, in some
cases overlapping the outline. The broad band beneath
the inscription is red. The pear-shaped forms between the
letters contain a stem headed by three-dotted circles in
reserve.
44 THREE-HANDLED PITCHER (base missing)
H 20, D 15 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Pitchers and jars of this w^are, all of them having a reddish
body, were apparently rare. Both the exterior and the in-
terior of 44 are glazed. The loosely drawn, rather formless
decoration, reminiscent of 27 and 28, is in sage green,
earth red, and a brownish black. Containing chrome, the
black has stained the glaze yellow. A fragment of a similar
vessel in the Metropolitan (40.170.620), found in the
Qanat Tepe, has large half-palmettes on the shoulder.
45 a,b DISH
D 13.8, H 4.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
The sides flare out straightly, and the rim does not turn
in. The same color scheme as 43, including some red de-
tails in the center motif. On the wall is a simplified "in-
scription" in reserve, its base toward the center of the
bowl, with decorative dots added. In the center of the bot-
tom, a design composed of indefinite leaflike forms. Un-
doubtedly from the same factory as 43.
46 DISH
D 12, H 3.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Decoration: a large bird with outstretched wings. The
48 BOWL
D 17.5, H 6.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.23
(Color Plate 6, page xvii)
1:3
Very smooth red clay. Thick base with small groove, semi-
circular in section. Walls slightly concave. All these fea-
tures are uncommon in Nishapur and also in Afrasiyab, so
the place of manufacture is not certain. Exterior decora-
tion : ornamental circles alternating with groups of vertical
strokes — a treatment not unknown in Nishapur buff ware.
The interior decoration features a warrior holding a
straight-bladed sword in his right hand, a round shield in
his left. The inside of the shield is shown, with the figure
grasping its handle. A fragment of a buff ware bowl in
Berlin has a horseman grasping a shield in his right hand,
depicted in the same fashion (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^
X, p. 11, fig. 12). The off-white engobe of 48 has been
largely covered with black, with reserved areas surround-
ing the ornaments: a rosette placed above the warrior's
helmet or cap, two rosettes with projecting forms placed
above his arms, and two large units of foliated simulated
Kufic filling the spaces beneath his arms. The palmette
ornamenting the warrior's skirt is a common type, inher-
Polychrome on White Ware
143
ited from the Sasanian period, when it was used either
singly or in clusters of four, the points at the center
(Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East^ p. 339, fig. 421). This
palmette continued to appear through the twelfth .century
(N. A. Reath Sc E. B. Sachs, Persian Textiles^ New Haven,
1937, pi. 48).
Although it is doubtful that a palmette of this size ever
appeared on an actual garment, the ornament itself is
found on a silk textile of the seventh or eighth century
(A. Godard, UArtde VIran, Paris, 1962, pi. m, p. 252).
The strong black V that projects to the rim of the bowl on
either side of the warrior's head increases the dramatic
impact of the figure and at the same time balances the
flare of the skirt. The significance of the V is not known.
The elevated points on helmets seen on a post-Sasanian
silver dish (Smirnov, Argenterie orientate^ pi. xxiil, no. 50)
may conceivably be related, but this is quite hypothetical.
The figures on two bowls in private collections also have
such projections from their headgear. One of these figures,
an archer, wears a knobbed helmet or cap like that on 48,
The other {Sept mille ans d?art en Iran Exhibition Cata-
logue, no. 944) is shown dancing. Here the projections
seem to be part of the figure's head scarf, which ends in
points below the knees but is not bifurcated as the scarves
of the buff ware figures usually are (Group 1, 59). In this
instance, a disk and a crescent are placed between the two
points above the head. A buff ware bowl, entirely different
in style from 48 and the two bowls just cited, has a figure
with comparable black lines continuing above its head
(Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ X, p. 11, fig. 11). However,
it is doubtful that the bowl came from Nishapur, and per-
haps it is not even authentic.
49 BOWL
Original D 23, H 15.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
The right side of this piece is illustrated; the left side is
damaged and incomplete. Around the top, serving as a
rim decoration, is a pseudo-Kufic inscription in black,
perhaps based on the word barakeh (blessing). Beneath
this, a band of circles filled with yellow, green, and earth
red in sequence. The center band is filled with sharp-
pointed palmettes, alternately upright and inverted, con-
nected by S-curves; the palmettes are colored yellow, with
clear green around them and a touch of light red at each
side of their bases. At the bottom, a band of horizontal
chevrons. The spaces between the V's are colored in the
same way as the band of circles. The interior, covered
with engobe and glaze, is undecorated.
50 PLATTER
D 30, H 7 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Red body, white engobe. Base has a foot ring. A slight
vertical collar separates the bottom from the flaring wall.
Decoration in brown black, sienna yellow, and gray green.
The prominence of the swags at the rim and the use of
circles filled with loosely drawn foliate forms indicates
Transoxiana as the probable place of origin for this ex-
ceptional piece. The pairs of triangular shapes within the
swags are a version of the double L-shapes found on 30,
where there is further comment.
51 BOWL
D 21.5, H 8.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Pinkish body. Walls flare straight out. Design entirely in
purplish black. One of a small group of bowls with a char-
acteristic decoration of broad radial bands extending to
the rim. Other examples, 52-55, have the added colors
that 51 lacks. The bands of 51, enclosing a small square at
the center, are adorned with a cable motif. The design of
the radial bands, giving the effect of rotation, was appar-
ently very popular at the end of the tenth century and in
the eleventh. It appears to have had a vogue not only in
Nishapur but in Transoxiana (Maysuradze, *^Afrasiyab,"
pi. XII, top), Afghanistan (Gar din, Lashkari Bazar ^ II,
pi. XVIII, nos. 242-247), and Gurgan (Metropolitan Mu-
seum, sherd collection). Though it is not impossible that
51 and the related bowls were imported, it is just as likely
that these not very elegant pieces were made both in
Afrasiyab and Nishapur. For the use of this design in the
slip-painted ware with colored engobe, see Group 5, 23.
52 a^b BOWL
D 19.5, H 8.4 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
The wall flares, but, unlike that of 51, it has a nearly verti-
cal rim, the change of direction being marked by a pro-
jecting ridge. The decoration of three radial bands is
drawn in ordinary black. A whirling effect, somewhat dif-
ferent from that on 51, is achieved with added bands that
fit the spaces between the radii that meet in the center.
The method seems related to a form of underglaze deco-
ration of the twelfth century found at Kish, near Babylon
(Reitlinger, Ars Islamica^ II, fig. 17B). It is possible (as
Reitlinger suggests) that this is an instance of artistic in-
fluence from Khurasan. However, the decorative idea is so
basic that the type at Kish may merely be a parallel. Or
it may be another indication of the unity that resulted
from the founding of the Seljuq empire.
The cable motif within the bands of 52 is drawn in a
black that stained the glaze yellow. For this reason the
piece may be considered a link between this particular
group of polychrome on white ware and the ware deco-
rated with yellow -staining black (Group 8), The exterior
is undecorated.
144
Polychrome on White Ware
53 BOWL (restored)
D 24.2, H 9.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 39.40.12
r
1:3
Red body, greenish glaze. The exterior wall is a little chat-
tered, probably not intentional.
The vertical rim, rising from the same exterior ridge
seen on 52, is decorated on the exterior with purplish
black circles containing vertical strokes. On the interior
the outlines of the radial bands and the strongly contrast-
ing motif of curls that fills the triangular spaces near the
rim are purplish black; the cable motif within the bands
is brown ; the circumscribing ring just beneath the rim is
earth red.
54 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 23 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36,20.2
Red body. Just above the base is a small groove. The rim
rises from a sharply marked ridge like those of 52 and 53,
then turns slightly inward. The exterior is covered with
engobe but glazed only at the rim, which is decorated
with a series of slightly slanting black lines. The decoration
of the interior, drawn in black, consists of interlacing bands
in the manner of 51 and a deep border of pseudo writing.
Red and yellow streaks have been added in the bands and
touches of yellow and green in the "inscription."
55 a,b BOWL
D 15.2, H 6 cm ; near Vineyard Tepe
MMA 38.40.179
Red body. Base slightly concave. Rim turns up, but with-
out a ridge on the exterior. Exterior, covered with engobe
and glaze, is undecorated. Interior decoration: broad
radial bands in black with curls, alternately red and black,
in the triangles around the rim. Streaks of yellow and
green appear in the bands and adjacent spaces.
For a closely related bowl with upturned rim and a ridge
on the exterior, undoubtedly from Nishapur — not Samar-
kand, as published — see Jakobsen, Islamische Keramik Ex-
hibition Catalogue, figs. 6, 7. For another related piece,
the lines of whose bands are double, with added double
center lines running from the bottom to the rim, see Lane,
Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 21 A, This doubling of the lines,
which does not appear on any such bowls found in Nish-
apur, occurs on a bowl found in Afrasiyab (Maysuradze,
"Afrasiyab," pi. xii, top), where a similar decoration with-
out doubling of the lines was also used (P^zard, Ceramique^
pi. xcvii, lower right). Another version of the same
"woven" pattern is to be seen in Stoliarov Photograph 3,
row E, nos. 12, 17 (page 367).
56 BOWL
D 26, H 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.147
1:3
Buff clay. Base, having a wide groove, is covered with en-
gobe but not with glaze. Rim rises vertically from a sharply
marked ridge, as on 52-54. Exterior decorated with a
series of black slanting strokes with touches of green and
yellow alternating between them. Interior decoration,
drawn in black, consists of a central rosette and a deep
band of pseudo inscription around the rim in the manner
of 54. The central disk of the rosette is yellowish olive, the
surrounding disk bright green. A broad streak of clear,
slightly greenish yellow has been added in the space be-
tween the rosette and the rim decoration. The looped pro-
jections on the outline of the rosette seem to be a feature
of some pottery of Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 234, fig. 9,
upper) .
A bowl in the Metropolitan (66.176), in all likelihood
from Nishapur, shows a warrior similar to that on 48,
carrying a shield shaped like the central rosette of 56 —
a clear instance of a decorative, rather than an actual,
representation of an object.
57 BOWL
D 15, H 5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.233
Reddish clay. Delicately curved, this silhouette is rare in
the glazed earthenware of Nishapur. The base, flat, is cov-
ered with engobe. Exterior: undecorated. Scattered on the
bottom are repeated small motifs: spots of black, petals
colored black and yellow, alef-\i\iQ shapes colored red.
Around the rim, above a band of black, is a decoration
consisting of groups of triple vertical strokes of black al-
ternating with rectangular spaces colored either yellow or
Polychrome on White Ware
145
red. A similar rim decoration, with groups of five vertical
strokes, occurs on a buff ware bowl (Group 1, 91). The
use of scattered small motifs on the bottom alone is most
unusual in Nishapur pottery and, together with the shape
of the bowl, suggests an import.
58 BOWL
D 19.5, H 8 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
The rosette on the bottom, with its group of looped pro-
jections, is like that of 56, as is the color scheme, even to
the streak of clear greenish yellow on the wall. In light of
this, the two bowls are probably from the same factory.
In the band near the rim, a series of large circles, each
with a central stroke. At the rim, a stroke of color broken
at long intervals by a group of four vertical strokes of
black. The exterior is decorated at the rim by a series of
vertical black strokes.
59 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 15.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.458
Smooth red clay, similar to, though less smooth than, 48.
As with 48, place of manufacture uncertain. Base, covered
with engobe but not with glaze, has a wide bevel. Traces of
decoration on the exterior: blobs of green, thick black
strokes, groups of thin black strokes. The interior is dec-
orated with a standing man, arms akimbo, the hands
touched with yellow. He wears a black jacket with promi-
nent pointed lapels, touched with yellow and green.
These are a feature of dress in Central Asia, as we know
from wall paintings (Le Goq, Chotscho^ pi. 7 A) and from a
silver dish (Smirnov, Argenterie orientals^ pi. xx, no. 46).
The man appears to be wearing tight-fitting trousers. Two
pointed shapes hang beneath his belt. Although they do
not hang vertically, they perhaps represent leather dan-
glers, such as were worn in the ninth and tenth centuries
and were found in a wall painting of a horseman in Nish-
apur (Hauser Sc Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin, April, 1942, p. 118, fig. 45).
Polychrome on White Ware
26
27
5
Slip-painted Ware
with Colored Engohe
Inasmuch as the potters of eastern Iran and Transoxiana
practiced the technique of painting in black and color on
a white engohe, it was a natural step for them to reverse
the scheme and paint in white or other light-hued sKps on
a colored engohe. These engobes are principally an earth
red (Color Plate 7, page xviii) that fired a Ught brown
under a colorless glaze and a purpKsh black that turned a
warm dark brown beneath the glaze. The latter often
turned very dark indeed, and when not examined closely,
looks like a warm black. A small subgroup of these vessels
lacks an engobe, the clay surface itself providing the col-
ored ground for the decoration.
The engobes contain metal oxides that often affect the
glazes above them, whether the glazes are themselves col-
ored yellow or green or are nearly colorless, which last is
more often the case. The staining of the glaze by the en-
gobe is particularly noticeable at the edges of white areas;
it is commoner on vessels covered with a purpKsh black
engobe, which contains manganese, than on those cov-
ered with an earth red. When a colored glaze is applied
over white sUp painting, the color can be seen for what it
is, the white acting as a reflector. When a colored glaze
covers a colored engobe, on the other hand, the final color
is a modified one. A purpKsh black engobe under a green
glaze becomes almost a true black (Color Plate 7, page
xviii), whereas a reddish engobe under a green glaze pro-
duces only a warm, pleasant near black. Some of the ves-
sels found in Nishapur have a decoration in hght green on
a purplish black ground (5-9), an effect achieved by the
use of white slip painting and somewhat greenish glaze.
Others (37, 38) have a strong, full green, with the engobe,
regardless of its original color, made almost black.
The body of the ware as found in Nishapur has the
same characteristics and variations noted in the bodies of
the wares covered with white engobes (Groups 3, 4, and
8). It ranges, that is, from red to yellow, that of most of
the pieces being reddish.
In the application of the glaze there is some difference
between the present ware and those with white engobes.
In the latter it is rare for the glaze not to cover the entire
exterior surface including the base, whereas in the present
ware an incomplete glazing of the exterior wall is often
seen, and the base is rarely glazed.
The technique of painting in slip on a colored engobe
was employed on vessels of many shapes and sizes, rang-
ing from pieces of toyUke smallness to bowls of consider-
able size — though none of the latter, it might be noted,
reached the size of the largest black on white bowls.
The similarity of the materials and technique to those
of the black on white and polychrome on white wares re-
inforces a relationship that is indicated by the similarity
of certain of the designs. Examples of the present ware
and the others sometimes resemble one another in the
manner of black on white and white on black. For exam-
ple, compare 3 in the present ware with 59 in Group 3, 42
and 47 with 26 in Group 3, and 38, 39, and 46 with 6 in
Group 4. There are also a few minor designs that are re-
lated to some in the ware decorated with yellow-staining
black. With these similarities noted, it may be said that
the majority of the designs in the present ware are dis-
tinctive.
The simplest decoration consists of white dots or spots
in clusters, mostly of three or four, with perhaps a line of
single spots at the rim. Such patterns are common on
small dishes covered either with a Hght red or a near-
black engobe. It is definite that such pieces were made in
Nishapur, since both a ^^second" (13) and a waster (43) so
decorated were found.
Another simple decoration favored in this ware is a
rosette consisting basically of a large disk surrounded by
a ring of circular spots. Widely known for millennia, such
rosettes have continued to the present day in the pottery
of Samarkand.
In the ninth and tenth centuries the potters of Nisha-
158
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
159
pur and Afrasiyab employed considerable invention in
varying the motif both in form and color. They changed
the size of the spots in the encircling ring and occasionally
painted two rings of spots. They also elaborated the cen-
tral disk, placing a group of spots upon it — ^white, yellow,
or green. In Nishapur such rosettes appear on large bowls
(l) as well as on small dishes (16, 18), usually as the sole
ornament, though on some dishes supplemented by a tri-
foKate form (17) or other simple motif. On somewhat sim-
ilar bowls of Afrasiyab such rosettes are accompanied by
motifs of a different nature drawn in white hnes, motifs
that become the dominant element of the design (Stoliarov
Photograph 2, row A, no. 11, page 366 ; Erdmann, Faenza^
XXV, pL XXIV b,c) and sometimes suggest birds (ibid.,
pi. xxrv d; Pugachenkova 8c Rempel, History of Art of
Uzbekistan^ fig. 230). No vessels resembling these were
found in Nishapur, a fact indicating that the importation
of this ware from Afrasiyab was selective.
A common feature in this ware with red engobe as
found in Nishapur is a geometrical form composed of
narrow bands of black with superimposed white dots.
This may be a rosette (19), swastika (20), quadrilateral
shape (22), or lattice (50). Used in a much freer style, such
dotted bands may represent three-leaved foKate forms
and birds (32, 48). Of these nongeometrical decorations
painted in black with added white spots, only scraps were
found by the Metropolitan's expedition. Several complete
vessels with this type of decoration have come to hght
since 1940, reputedly from Nishapur. Two, once in the
Matossian collection and unpublished, have crudely
drawn animals painted in a near black on a Kght red en-
gobe. Their bodies, covered with white spots, are out-
lined with dotted bands. A bowl in the Ettinghausen col-
lection, unpubhshed, is decorated vnth a running animal
with a leaflike tail, painted in black and covered with rows
of white spots. That a similar treatment was used in
Afrasiyab is evident in a fragmentary bowl with dark en-
gobe from that center, on which the body of a bird, drawn
in outline, is adorned with rows of white spots. A ewer
with black engobe, also decorated with a bird, from Iran,
most probably from Nishapur, is in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston (65.1283).
Script of various kinds plays a prominent part in the
decoration of this ware as found in Nishapur. Occasion-
ally there is evidence of a calligraphic hand of the highest
quaUty (42, 47), but in general it may be said that the ar-
tistry revealed in the black on white and polychrome on
white wares is not equaled. Kufic with triangular tops is
usually loosely drawn (6, 7), the letters having longer
stems than in related inscriptions in the black on white
ware. Some of the lettering in this ware has foliated finials
(36,40,44); some is Umited in decoration to a few dots on
the sides of the letters (2). Associated with the inscrip-
tions on a few pieces having a black or nearly black engobe
are outlined compartments filled with dots and peacock
eyes (7-9). Similar decorations occur with inscriptions
in the ware decorated with yeUow-staining black. Such
pieces are rare in both wares, and some doubt must remain
as to their place or places of origin.
In the present ware, as in those with a white engobe,
there is a considerable use of repetitive, degenerate types
of writing in the form of compact bands of decoration.
Such bands may cross a bowl from rim to rim (3) or en-
circle the waU parallel to the rim (lO). When the engobe
is red, such a band may be painted in white on a band of
black (49). A script so degenerate as hardly to be recog-
nized as derived from writing occurs on a few pieces made
without an engobe (34), on which it is drawn in a black
containing chrome, which yeUows the glaze. The same
"script," drawn in the same pigment, is frequently en-
countered in the ware decorated with yellow-staining
black, used not in interweaving bands, as here, but in
radial bands, conventional borders, and outhned com-
partments.
Another degenerate form of lettering used in the pres-
ent ware consists of a single "letter" employed in a purely
decorative manner (53). Similar letters occasionally occur
in the buff ware.
Various technical methods were used by the potters of
this ware to achieve similar decorative results. For ex-
ample, a cable pattern was made in three different ways.
To achieve his pattern with the greatest precision, the
potter appKed a stroke of white shp and then with a point
scratched his crossings through to the dark engobe be-
neath (45), a method also used in the black on white and
the polychrome on white wares. In a second technique,
producing a less neat result, the elements of the cable
were painted individually with the brush Kfted at the
proper gaps (6, 7, 36); this technique is also found in the
black on white and the polychrome on white wares. In
the third technique, pecuhar to the present ware, the cable
pattern was drawn in a dark pigment on a local ground of
white (29). The first and third techniques were also em-
ployed to produce a dark wavy fine upon a radial Hne of
white shp, the line either scratched through the slip (ll)
or paiuted upon it (26).
The range of quality in this ware is comparable to that
of others found in Nishapur. Some of the vessels, that is,
were obviously made as cheap pieces, while others be-
token the skill of masters.
There is uncertainty as to when this ware was first
made and where it was developed. According to the Rus-
sian archeologist N. Chepelev, the earHest examples of
underglaze sHp painting on a colored engobe (Chepelev,
160
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
Iskusstvo^ 1, pp. 48-49) were made in the sixth or seventh
century in Sogdia (Transoxiana). The Russian work at
Pendzhikent and other sites of the sixth and seventh cen-
turies has not backed up this opinion, however, since
these sites have yielded no pieces like Chepelev's. Chepe-
lev's pieces have now been more convincingly reassigned
to the ninth and tenth centuries (Erdmann, Faenza^ XXV,
pis. xxm, top, and xxiv), and Arthur Lane's assertion
that no glazed ware of any kind was made in Transoxiana
or eastern Iran before the Samanid period (Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ P* 17) remains correct.
Regardless of its date of first manufacture, the present
ware was obviously made on a big scale in Gurgan, Khur-
asan, and Transoxiana, whereas in western Iran, Iraq,
Syria, and Egypt it was never fully developed. Since pro-
duction of the ware continued in Transoxiana through
the centuries, one may suspect that this region was the
one that first produced it.
1 BOWL
D 26, H 8.9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body, near-black engobe. Exterior, covered with
engobe and glaze, undecorated. Interior, three rings of
rosettes, irregularly spaced, with a single rosette on the
bottom. The motif is composed of a disk of red sur-
mounted by three white spots and surrounded by two
rings of white spots, those of the outer ring much larger
than those of the inner. Tenth century. For similar rosettes,
see 17 and 18. For a bowl closely resembling 1, reputedly
from Nishapur, see Ceramic Art of Iran Exhibition Cat-
alogue, no. 79. Bowls with this kind of decoration, but
incorporating other motifs, were not peculiar to Nisha-
pur, however, since they have been found at Afrasiyab
(Stoliarov Photograph 4, row C, nos. 1, 5, page 367),
Shahr-i-Daqianus (Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances^
pi. XXI, no. 268), and Bust (Gardin, Laskkari Bazar^ II,
pi. XXII, nos. 374, 375), those of Bust being of a later date
than those of Nishapur.
2 BOWL
D 20.6, H 6.3 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.22
Yellowish red body, near-black engobe. Thinly turned.
Base, slightly concave, has neither engobe nor glaze. Ex-
terior, covered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated.
Decoration on the interior is in white slip, here and there
tinted brown by the engobe. At the rim, a sawtooth. On
the bottom, a motif of three conjoined spots. (The triple
mark of a stilt is also present.) On the wall, a repeated
stylized inscription, base toward the rim, probably barakeh
(blessing). The treatment is ornamental, with the three
vertical letters diminishing sharply in height and three
projecting dots added to the kaf. See 4 for another version
of this addition.
3 DISH
D 11.6, H 5.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
iMIB
Bright red body, near-black engobe, white slip painting,
greenish glaze. Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze,
is undecorated. Interior: a compact band of "inscription"
suggesting the word barakeh (blessing), repeated, crosses
from rim to rim. At the rim, centered in the empty space
(and probably repeated opposite), a device consisting of a
spot flanked by triangular forms. The style of the inscrip-
tion, which also occurs in the black on white ware (Group
3, 59), seems to have been popular in the late tenth cen-
tury and probably continued into the eleventh. Several
variations were found in this ware (49, for example).
Dishes with everted rims had the barakek-likc words in
short bands, one on the bottom and four around the wall.
1:3
A dish from Sabz Pushan in the MetropoUtan (40.170.301)
shows the writing in even more stylized form, the band
consisting of four squares each containing a ^a/-Iike sign
with supplementary strokes extending in from the frame
to fill the spaces :
1:3 1:2
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
161
4 DISH
D 11.5, H 5.7 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Near-black engobe, white slip painting, greenish glaze.
Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, has groups of
parallel slanting strokes of white increasing in length to
form triangular shapes (see drawing at 5). The principal
decoration on the interior is a band of foliated Kufic con-
sisting of the word barakeh (blessing), repeated once. Pairs
of spots have been added to the tops of the kafs. Above
and below the inscription is a group of three overlapping
spots. The rim is decorated with a few white ovals. There
are two related dishes in the present ware. One in the
Metropolitan from the excavations (38.40.202) differs
from 4 in that it has an everted lip and an inscription
without additional decoration and with slightly different
1:3
dottings. The second of these dishes, once in the Matos-
sian collection and almost certainly from Nishapur, has
trifoliate forms in place of the groups of overlapping spots.
The exteriors of both these dishes are decorated like 4.
The three-spot device occurs on other examples of this
ware, sometimes carelessly treated (14, 25), sometimes well
drawn (38, 39, 46).
5 BOWL
D 20, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.518
1:3
Reddish body covered with purplish engobe that stains
the greenish glaze deep brown. Turned quite thin, the lip
everted, the base neatly made, with a deep, sloping groove.
The foot ring thus formed is not typical of Nishapur. The
contour of the bowl is distinctly convex, a feature common
in Afrasiyab, uncommon in Nishapur. The exterior, cov-
ered with engobe and glaze, is decorated at the rim with
groups of sloping lines in white, their length increasing to
form triangular shapes. On the bottom, the marks of a
1:2
stilt. The principal element of the decoration, painted in
white, is a fantastic bird. Its wings, connected to its body
by long curved lines, are outspread beside its head. Each
is decorated with a simple disk in reserve and a band in
reserve adorned with white dots. Such wings, with a circle
in the upper part, the upper part separated from the lower
by a decorated band, and often much more elaborately
decorated, were produced in the late tenth century and
later, both in ceramics (Group 12, 191) and stone (Falke,
Kunstgeschichte der Seidenweberei^ I, fig. 183). The spaces
around the bird are filled with outlined compartments
containing dots and forms in reserve. Such compartments
occur on a number of vessels with a near-black engobe
(7-9), their irregularly indented outline sometimes echo-
ing the shape of the adjacent decoration, and sometimes
(as on 5) ignoring it. The rather elaborate forms seen
within the compartments of 5 seem to be unique. The dec-
oration at the rim consists of swags of white that contain a
row of white dots (not apparent in the illustration).
Several fragments of bowls with generally similar deco-
rations were found. The exterior of one was decorated
with script whose letters had triangular tops in the man-
ner of 6 and 7. The spirit of all these pieces and related
ones is that of Transoxiana, despite their origin in Iran
(Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 563 A; Erickson Exhibition Cata-
logue, p. 26, no. 15; Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 17A,
ajar). The first and second of the cited pieces have rim
decorations like that of 5.
6 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 22.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Body buff to reddish brown. Engobe a warm near black
where not glazed; where covered by the greenish glaze, an
intense dark brown. The white slip painting is unpleas-
antly streaked with brown that has run from the engobe.
Decoration : five lines of inscription on the bottom, en-
circled by an interwoven cable, and a line of inscription
encircling the wall. Although it is possible that another
cable appeared above the inscription on the wall (com-
pare 7), the absence of decorative filling in the spaces be-
tween the letters suggests that this was not the case. The
lines of the cable were painted individually, contrary to
the practice in the black on white and polychrome wares,
where the effect of interweaving is obtained by scratching
w^hite lines through a band of black. However, the scratch-
ing technique is also found in the present ware (45). For
still another method of making a cable^by superimpos-
ing dark drawing upon a light ground — see 29. Not
enough remains of the inscriptions to decipher them, but
they were probably once meaningful. The vertical letters,
when juxtaposed, diminish in height (compare 2), the
heads of the letters are roughly triangular, and some of
the letters end in an S -curve — a combination peculiar to
this ware.
162
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
7 Ejb BOWL FRAGMENT
W 25.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.475
BufF body. Intense dark brown engobe beneath greenish
glaze. This was a large bowl, approximately 38 centimeters
in diameter. On the wall, a band of inscription between
two cables. The inscription, in a different style from that
of 6, with the prolongation of the triangular heads being
sharper and more delicate, has not been deciphered. The
spaces between the letters are filled with compartments
containing dots and peacock eyes, a form of decoration
that in the present ware is associated both with inscrip-
tions and a decoration of birds (Hobson, Islamic Pottery^
fig. 36; Erdmann, Pantheon^ XVIII, p. 163, upper left).
The lines of the cables, as on 6 (where see further com-
ment), are painted individually. The decoration at the rim,
a series of swags filled with short strokes with a short pro-
jection where the swags meet, appears in two other wares
of Nishapur, the imitation luster (Group 6, 45) and the
opaque yellow ware (not illustrated). On the exterior (7b)
is a pseudo inscription, more fanciful and graceful than
that on the interior. Its groups of triple vertical strokes
are unusual in having circular blobs at their tips.
8 FRAGMENT Gar or pitcher)
W 16 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Near-black engobe, greenish glaze. Around the shoulder
a pseudo inscription in white slip repeating double verti-
cals, the spaces between these filled with compartments of
irregular shape containing dots and peacock eyes without
the central spot.
Calligraphy was not the only decoration applied to the
shoulder of such vessels (see 45). The shoulder of a
pitcher in the Metropolitan (53.170.1), acquired by pur-
chase, is decorated with six circumscribing lines of small
white X's (Wilkinson, Iranian Ceramics^ pi. 25). Its neck
has a pseudo inscription, its rim a sawtooth on the ex-
terior, a debased cable pattern on the interior.
9 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 17.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Buff body, near-black engobe, greenish glaze. Decoration
appears as greenish white. On the interior, its base near
the rim, an adaptation of Kufic writing, the spaces be-
tween the letters filled with compartments whose outlines
roughly echo those of the letters. The compartments con-
tain dots and peacock eyes, some of whose center spots are
linked to the outlines. On the exterior (not illustrated),
groups of slanting strokes diminish in length to form
triangular shapes, as on 5.
10 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 19.2 cm ; Q^nat Tepe
MxMA 40.170.498
A portion of this fragment is in Teheran. Reddish body,
turned very thin. The glaze has colored the almost black
engobe a deep brown, and the engobe, which covers the
exterior as wxll as the interior, has somewhat purpled the
glaze over the white slip painting. Decoration; a sawtooth
at the rim and a band of a debased script, meaningless
even though dots purporting to be diacritical marks are
present. The exterior is undecorated. No other example
was found of this particular style of script in this ware;
however, a complete bowl of this ware, probably found in
Nishapur after 1940 and now in the collection of Richard
Ettinghausen, has the script, a rim decoration resembling
that of 7, and a bird on the bottom.
11 DISH
D 11.3, H 3.8 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 38.40.295
Reddish body, purplish black engobe, greenish glaze,
browned by the engobe. The entire piece, including its
slightly concave base, is covered with engobe and glaze.
Lip everted and turned downward. Exterior undecorated.
Interior decoration : radial and intermediate bands crudely
painted in white slip, with wavy lines scratched through
them to reveal the engobe. The bands are tinged green by
the glaze. For a variation of the design and technique,
see 26.
12 DISH
D 12.2, H 3.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.89
Smooth reddish body. Thinly turned, the exterior trimmed
here and there with a tool. Flat base. Of the same general
color as 11, but with the engobe so thinly applied that the
ground is patchy in tone. On the exterior the engobe ex-
tends only about a third of the way down, although in one
place it has run to the base. The exterior is also incom-
pletely glazed; where the glaze extends beyond the en-
gobe, the body is yellowish brown. Inside, on the bottom,
are the tips of a stilt. Decoration: four large circles
around the wall and one on the bottom, consisting of
white bands with a wavy line scratched through them (for
technique, compare 11). In and between the circles are
loosely drawn trilobed forms such as appear frequently
in this ware.
13 DISH
D 11.2, H 3.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.171
Reddish body, near-black engobe, colorless glaze. Everted
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
163
lip, flat base. A "second," with a piece of another dish at-
tached to it on the exterior. No decoration on the exterior.
Decoration on the interior consists of evenly spaced
groups of four spots of white slip. Such bowls appear to
have been made in Afrasiyab as well as Nishapur. In
Afrasiyab the same kind of decoration was applied to ves-
sels with straight, flaring sides, measuring as much as 30
centimeters in diameter (Maysuradze, "Afrasiyab," pi.
XVII, top). A variation of 13, from the same site, has a
glaze over a yellowish slip with groups of green dots sub-
stituting for the white ones. Bowls of the shape of 13
1:2
sometimes had a slight bevel on the base, as seen in still
another example from Sabz Pushan:
15 DISH FRAGMENT
D 16, H (estimated) 4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.120
Reddish body, thinly turned. Purplish black engobe,
colorless glaze. Exterior covered with engobe and glaze
but undecorated. On the interior, a white curling stem
forms four circles, in each of which is a trefoil. Between
the circles are triangular leaves and long-pointed trefoils.
After the outlines of the forms had been painted in white,
the potter superimposed shp painting in red and olive
green. Around the rim, a sawtooth. The color scheme,
rare in Nishapur, is a feature of many Afrasiyab vessels.
Probably tenth century. An import.
16 DISH
D 13.7, H 4.3 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Brownish black engobe. Decoration: seven rosettes of
white dots, one on the bottom, the rest spaced around the
wall, and a line of spots at the rim. This simple decoration
was also found on vessels with a reddish brown engobe.
Such vessels were doubtless made not only in Nishapur
but in Afrasiyab and other centers in eastern Iran (Gardin,
Lashkari Bazar^ II, pi. xxii, no. 386) and Transoxiana.
14 DISH
D 13.2, H 4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.168
Red body, near-black engobe, colorless glaze. The engobe
and glaze descend only a little way on the exterior. Deco-
ration: groups of three white spots, arranged in circum-
scribing circles, with a line of single spots around the rim.
Dishes thus decorated were common in Nishapur. For
another example, probably made in Nishapur, see Erd-
mann, Berliner Museen^ XIV, p. 12, fig. 12. On some ex-
amples, found by the Metropolitan's expedition, the
groups of spots are fewer and more widely spaced. One so
decorated, with a rosette of spots in the center, is in the
Teheran museum. In other examples the groups consist of
four spots. One of these is in Berlin (ibid.). Dishes with
this type of decoration were also made with white spots on
a red engobe. Jars were also made with this decoration in
Nishapur, as evidenced by a waster (43).
Dishes similar to 14 were found at Afrasiyab (Erdmann,
Faenza^ XXV, pL xxv b), and it is certain that they were
manufactured in both places. Pieces decorated with triple
white spots have also been found at Bust (Gardin, Lash-
kari Bazar ^ II, pi. xxii, nos. 383, 385) and Gurgan (un-
published). In Nishapur such pieces were undoubtedly
made throughout the tenth century and into the eleventh.
17 DISH
D 12.4, H 4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.120
(Color Plate 7, page xviii)
Reddish body, purplish black engobe, greenish glaze. Ex-
terior, undecorated, is covered with engobe and glaze only
near the rim. On the bottom is a large rosette with three
central spots of olive green and two surrounding rings of
white spots. Similar rosettes, but with white central spots,
occur on 1 and 18. On the wall are four more such rosettes,
without the outer ring of white spots. Between the ro-
settes are trifoliate forms, the two outer leaves pointed and
bent outward, the central one small and rounded. Similar
forms, somewhat abbreviated, appear on a fragment of a
small jar found at Shahr-i-Daqianus (Stein, Archaeological
Reconnaissances^ pi. xxi, no. 666). A bowl found after
1940, reputedly in Nishapur, has the same type of rosettes
on bottom and wall as 17, but in place of the trifoliate
form, a motif of two circular spots with a long triangular
form above them (Erdmann, Berliner Museen, XIV, p. 10,
fig. 6). A larger bowl than the present one, this also has
two rows of ornamentation around its wall rather than one.
164
sup-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
18 DISH
D 12.2, H 3.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
1:3
Red body, well turned. Near-black engobe, colorless
glaze. Engobe and glaze extend only part way down the
exterior. Decoration of rosettes (compare 1), with three
superimposed white spots on the red disks tinted green
by the dabbed addition of a copper base. Dishes with a
similar decoration and an everted rim were found, such
1:3
as this very shallow example from Sabz Pushan. Small
bowls such as this show a certain variation in shape seen
in the drawings :
1:3
1:3
19 BOWL (some restoration)
D 23, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.92
Two motifs fill the spaces: a trifoliate form and a form
suggesting a pomegranate. Both are drawn on white slip
in a brownish pigment that yellows the glaze in its vicinity.
Both these motifs, especially the trifoliate form, appear
frequently in this ware ; neither is found in other Nishapur
wares. Around the rim: a sawtooth in black.
20 BOWL (restored)
D 25, H 8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.128
Reddish buff body, strong earth red engobe, red brown
beneath the glaze. Badly discolored on one side — a kiln
injury. Turned very thin ; some trimming with a tool on
the exterior. Base slightly concave. Exterior, covered with
engobe and glaze only about halfway to the base, is un-
decorated. Interior: a swastika, developing from a small
circle in the center, generates an eight-lobed figure
bounded by a ring near the rim. The drawing is done in
black lines with superimposed white spots. At the tips of
the swastika are objects filled in with olive green slip and
outlined with a greenish black pigment that yellows the
glaze. Although the shape of the objects is leaflike, a cross-
band of hatching makes them resemble vases with tall,
pointed covers. In the spaces of the figure are trifoliate
forms drawn on white slip in a yellow-staining greenish
black. Around the rim, flattened half-moons.
1:3
Reddish buff body, earth red engobe, colorless glaze.
Turned very thin. Flat base. The shape, with an abrupt
change of curve halfway between rim and base, is unusual;
for another occurrence see Group 1, 36. Exterior, covered
with engobe and glaze, is undecorated. On the interior,
painted in purplish black, is a four-lobed rosette made
from a cross at the center, extended by curved lines to a
ring near the rim, with four supplementary "petals"
added. Superimposed on the lines are dots of white slip.
21 DISH
D 13.2, H 4.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 39.40.13
1:3
Pinkish buff body, red brown engobe. Everted rim, slightly
concave base. Exterior is covered with engobe but is
glazed only at the rim. Interior: two circles, one around
the bottom and one just below the rim, connected by four
loops, the drawing in black with superimposed white dots.
Between the loops and in the center are trifoliate forms
drawn on white slip in a yellow-staining sienna. Spaced
around the rim, four pairs of black blobs.
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
165
22 DISH
D 12, H 4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red body, red engobe, colorless glaze. Exterior undeco-
rated. Interior: a cross and a square within a circle, drawn
in black with superimposed white dots. In the spaces, tri-
foliate forms drawn in a yellow-staining pigment on dabs
of white slip. Many small dishes with related designs were
found, including one whose bands formed a Solomon's
seal. The drawing shows a typical shape for small dishes
of this type:
1:3
23 DISH
D 10.6, H 3.4 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.126
Reddish body, brick red engobe, colorless glaze. Poorly
turned, with ridges on the exterior. Base slightly concave.
No glaze or decoration on exterior. Interior: three radial
lines, black with white dots, rise from center to rim, each
one giving off a subsidiary line on one side. The spaces
are filled with trifoliate forms in white slip with super-
imposed drawing in yellowish pigment. Three of the forms
have been lengthened with stems. At the rim, a poorly
drawn sawtooth in black. Giving the effect of rotation, this
is one of the basic tenth-century designs of Nishapur and
Afrasiyab. For its use in the polychrome on white ware of
Nishapur, see Group 4, 51-55.
25 DISH
D 12.4, H 4 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Reddish body, earth red engobe. Decoration on bottom
and wall of crudely painted triple spots; rim ringed with
a line of single spots. Small dishes with black engobes
were given generally similar decorations (14, 16).
26 DISH
D 14, H 4.2 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, earth red engobe, greenish glaze. Decora-
tion: radial and intermediate bands in white slip, a wavy
line painted upon them in a dark raw sienna that stains
the glaze yellow. For a variation of the design and tech-
nique, see 11. Other variations include a dish on which
radial white bands with painted lines alternate with black
bands studded with spots of white slip.
27 DISH
D 12.3, H 4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, no engobe, buff surface. Exterior undeco-
rated. Interior: three radial bands rise from the center to
the rim, superimposed on bands forming a lozenge. The
bands, drawn in segments, are in a black that yellows the
glaze. The spaces are filled with thin-pointed trifoliate
forms drawn in the same black on local grounds of white
slip. The same kind of decoration was also painted on
bowls provided with a red engobe. Accordingly, 27 may
be considered a cheap version.
24 DISH
D 11.4, H 3.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.206
Reddish buff body, brownish red engobe, colorless glaze.
Everted lip. Flat base. The exterior, covered three-quarters
of the way to the base with engobe, is unglazed. Decora-
tion: concentric rings of spotted disks. The top and third
rings are of white disks with black spots ; the second ring
and the single disk in the center are black with white
spots. The white slip has spalled in several places, a not
uncommon occurrence when the painting is thick, taking
with it the superimposed black spots.
Small dishes with incurved rims, and also jars, were
found with red engobes and a decoration of white-dotted
black disks. Rather than dots, the disks of some related
pieces had intersecting white lines upon them, while
others had two strokes of white, elaborated to resemble
Arabic letters.
28 BOWL
D 9.6, H 5 cm ; near Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.94
1:3
A deep, small bowl with nearly vertical sides and flat, out-
wardly projecting lip. Reddish body. Earth red engobe,
unevenly applied, on exterior and interior. On the exte-
rior, poorly drawn rosettes consisting of disks of purplish
black pigment with superimposed spots of white slip. A
similar rosette is centered on the bottom. Today in Sam-
arkand, small dishes with an earth red engobe, as well as
others glazed in a bluish green, are still being decorated
with such disks.
166
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
29 PLATTER FRAGMENT
W 16.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.654
Another portion of this piece is in the Teheran museum.
Smooth red body, bright earth red engobe. Exterior, cov-
ered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated. The design
on the interior may be considered a more elaborate ver-
sion of 21, utilizing the pomegranateHke figure of 19.
Many of the spots of white slip placed upon the areas of
purplish black have spalled, giving a fortuitous impression
of white rings. At the rim are narrow lunettes dotted with
white. The circumscribing ring at the junction of the rim
and bottom is most probably a poorly rendered cable de-
sign, though it is not impossibly pseudo writing (compare
Group 8, 32). The black lines painted on the white slip
here and in the pomegranates have stained the glaze
yellow.
For variants of the cable design, see 6, 7, and 36, whereon
the two strands of the motif are painted side by side in
white slip, and 45, on which a solid band of slip is scratched
with a point so that the dark engobe defines the strands.
30 DISH
D 11, H 3.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Earth red engobe, reddish brown beneath colorless glaze.
Everted rim, flat base. Decoration: evenly spaced groups
of four spots in a clear, strong green applied on the glaze.
For another version of the design, see 13.
31 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 11 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body, earth red engobe, colorless glaze. Decora-
tion : a central circular spot and four radial conical forms
in black, upon which leaflike forms are painted in white
slip. Intervening spaces filled alternately with the now-
familiar trifoliate form and what is apparently the pome-
granatelike form seen on 19.
bird with foliated crest, painted in the same technique.
See also 48.
Fragments of somewhat similar pieces have been found
at Shahr-i-Daqianus (Stein, Archaeological Reconnais-
sances, pi. XXI, no. 420). Preoccupation with a bird as a
single main element in slip-painted wares is more char-
acteristic of Gurgan and Mazanderan than Khurasan or
Transoxiana.
33 DISH
D 11, H 10.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body. Unusual in having a gray engobe that be-
comes pale grayish purple where glazed. Base slightly
concave. Flaring sides. Decoration : bands of black with
superimposed rosettes in white. One band crosses the
bowl from rim to rim, the other (possibly repeated on the
missing side) occupies a section of the rim. The rosettes
are of the simple type seen on 16. For the fragment of
another dish of this size and same peculiar color, see 48.
34 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 14.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.528
Buff body, no engobe, clear glaze. Exterior, glazed, is un-
decorated. Interior: bands of white pigment (rather than
slip) upon which an extremely debased pseudo-Kufic
script is drawn in such a fashion that the bands seem to
interweave. The drawing, in a black containing chrome,
has yellowed the glaze locally. Late tenth or early eleventh
century. A similar '^script," used in a number of different
ways, is a common feature in the ware decorated with
yellow-staining black. A more sophisticated use of the
technique is to be seen in an unpublished bowl from Nish-
apur or Gurgan in the British Museum in which the rib-
bons form ogee-topped panels, each containing a bird.
32 DISH FRAGMENT
W 10 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.482
Buffish red body, light red engobe, colorless glaze. Base
slightly concave. Exterior: engobe only at rim; no glaze.
Interior : circles at center, curling lines on wall, and one
of the familiar trifoliate forms, all painted in black with
superimposed white spots. At the rim, a near-black band
adorned with groups of four white spots. The central
motif may represent a fanciful bird; a dish found in the
excavations, now in Teheran, is decorated with a large
35 FRAGMENT
W 12 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.484
Buff body, no engobe, surface grayish beneath colorless
glaze. Exterior glazed but undecorated. Interior: white
bands decorated with a cable pattern in yellow-staining
black. The effect reminiscent of 34, but the piece poorer
in every respect. Although possibly made in Nishapur,
more likely imported from Gurgan, where this type of
pottery was common, as is evident from the sherds col-
lected there.
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
167
36 a,b PLATTER (reconstruction)
D 37.7, H 6.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.67
Reddish body, bright earth red engobe, white slip paint-
ing, colorless glaze. On the superior surface of the flat rim,
a group of six half-palmettes alternates with a pair of tri-
lobed forms emerging from a disk. Two of the half-
palmettes extend laterally, two rise vertically in a heart-
like space from whose outline two more grow out along
the rim. The fine black lines in these decorations have
been scratched through the slip with a point. Outlining
the well of the platter is a cable, its lines painted individ-
ually (as on 6 and 7). In the center area is a band of foli-
ated Kufic, its base toward the center, and a geometrical
design having both circular and angular projections. The
letters of the inscription have humped excrescences; simi-
lar humps occur in scripts in the black on white ware
(Group 3, 38, 54). Platters with such elaborately deco-
rated centers are encountered in the polychrome on white
ware of both Nishapur and Merv (Lunina, Trudy ^ XI, p.
244, fig. 15, left). The underside of the piece, which is
furnished with a foot ring, is decorated to a surprising ex-
tent, considering that the painting would not be visible
when the platter was in use. Short radial bands of pseudo
Kufic alternate on the rim with circles filled with S-curves,
additional lateral curves, and dots. The small portion re-
maining of the original base indicates that a line of in-
scription once traversed it.
The resemblance of the decoration on the superior sur-
face of the rim to that of two mold -made pitchers found
at Susa (KoechHn, Les Ceramiques^ pi. v, no. 26, and
David-Weill, Revue des Arts^ I, pp. 247-249) is striking,
even though the platter was of a different period. The
pitchers have been given early dates, even of the Sasanian
period, whereas the humped Kufic of the platter indicates
clearly that it was not made before the end of the tenth
century.
37 a,b BOWL
D 27, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.98
Buff body, dark red, nearly black, engobe, white slip paint-
ing, clear strong green glaze. Glaze has pooled on the bot-
tom. Base, slightly concave, has some streaks of engobe
and splashes of glaze. Interior: a circumscribing band con-
sisting of an undulating stem from which grow curling
tendrils and forms roughly resembling leaves or palmettes,
the decoration bounded by a line above and one below.
The bottom is filled with interlacing bands that form al-
most complete circles; these contain curled stems and
foliate forms. The spaces around the circumference of the
design are filled with a version of the trifoliate form that
occurs on many examples of this ware. The exterior is
decorated with a number of spriglike foliations, probably
once five. Location indicates early tenth century. The
finding of a waster (43) decorated in the same technique —
dark engobe, white slip painting, clear green glaze — sup-
ports the view that 37 was locally manufactured.
38 BOWL
D 19.2, H 6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.32
1:3
Red body, dark red, nearly black, engobe, strong green
glaze. The whole of the exterior, including the base, which
is slightly concave, is covered with engobe, but the glaze
extends only to the foot. Broken, the bowl was repaired in
antiquity by means of metal ties in small holes drilled
through the body. These ties were of iron, determined
from the rust in the holes. Decoration : concentric circles
of trefoils made by dividing appropriately shaped blobs of
white slip with a point. The motif, probably a crude form
of the petallike form seen on 39, closely resembles a popu-
lar motif in the polychrome on white w^are (Group 4, 6).
Fragments of other green-glazed bowls were found with a
similar decoration, but with the motif consisting of four
white spots :
168
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
39 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.584
Another portion of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
Grayish buff body, red brown engobe, white slip painting,
yellowish brown glaze. Exterior undecorated. Around the
wall in concentric circles, a trefoil, or petallike form, di-
vided in three by means of a point. A better-drawn version
of the motif on 38.
40 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 15.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, brown engobe, white slip painting, warm
yellow glaze, spalled in places. Decoration: a line of foli-
ated Kufic, base toward the rim, the foliations unusually
large. Judging by the location as well as the style, end of
tenth century or beginning of eleventh.
41 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 14 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.583
Reddish body, brown engobe, white slip painting, warm
yellow glaze — the glaze speckled black due to insufficient
grinding of the metallic base. Bowl has upturned rim. Dec-
oration: a band containing curving strokes emerging from
an undulating "stem." For a better version, see 37. The
exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is decorated at
the rim with groups of vertical strokes of white, in the
manner of 4 and 5.
42 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.582
Another portion of this bowl is in Teheran. Both potting
and decoration of the finest quality. Buff body, red ocher
engobe, white slip painting, clear yellow glaze free of any
trace of brown. Decoration: a Kufic inscription, base to-
ward the rim, its curves and modulations in thickness sen-
sitive and precise. As no other examples of this color,
quality, and style were found, probably an import, per-
haps from Afrasiyab. Tenth century.
43 JAR (waster)
H 8.1 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 48.101.1
Buffbody, reddish engobe, white slip painting, clear green
glaze. Flat base. Some glaze but no engobe on the interior.
Decoration consists of spots in groups of three and four.
In places the glaze was badly burnfed in the kiln. It forms
a pool on one side. A portion of another jar adheres to one
side, and there is damage where the attached piece was
broken off.
Fragments of large, dark-colored jars were found, deco-
rated on the outside with symmetrical groups of three
white spots. The interiors of these pieces were not covered
with engobe, but some were glazed. There is little question
but that this type of ware was made in the kilns of several
cities.
44 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Crudely made. Reddish engobe, white slip painting, yel-
low glaze. Decoration : an elaborately foliated script, base
toward the rim, the ^<2/ carrying three foliations. An un-
usual style in Nishapur. Probably end of tenth or begin-
ning of eleventh century.
45 JAR FRAGMENT (shoulder)
W 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Purplish black engobe, white slip painting, practically
colorless glaze stained in places by the engobe. Decora-
tion: interlacing bands forming a cable and oval panels,
the panels containing a four-leafed rosette. The appear-
ance of interlacing has been achieved by the removal of the
slip with a point. Fragments of other near-black jars were
found with pseudo inscriptions on their shoulders : see 8,
46 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Buff body, practically black engobe, white slip painting,
clear glaze slightly stained by the engobe. Exterior, cov-
ered with engobe and glaze, shows no decoration. Interior:
a rim line of half-moons and a petal motif that resembles
those of 38 and 39. The motif was separated into two parts
with a point. Further comment on the motif at 38. The
remains of a very fine piece. A similar fragment, possibly
of the same bowl, is in the MetropoHtan (40.170.580).
Rare in Nishapur, such bowls were probably imported
from Afrasiyab. For a complete example of high quality,
see Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 16A.
47 BOWL FRAGMENTS
Overall W 20 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.526
A portion of this example is in Teheran. Very hard buff
body, intense black engobe, greenish glaze tinged yellow
by the background at the edges of the white slip painting.
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated.
Interior: a Kufic inscription, base toward the rim. A finely
made piece. The rarity of such bowls in Nishapur suggests
that they were imports. For similar pieces found in Afra-
siyab see Stoliarov Photograph 3, row D, no. 5 (page 367)
and Maysuradze, ^^Afrasiyab," pi. v. In another example
from Afrasiyab (Erdmann, Faenza^ XXV, pi. xxv c) the
style of the script is less close to that of 47.
48 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 13.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.485
Unusual grayish purplish engobe (compare 33). Decora-
tion, painted in black with superimposed spots of white
slip, a bird. Only its legs and feet remain. Rim pattern, a
fret painted in white slip on a black band. Uncommon in
Nishapur pottery, the fret appears in the pottery of Sistan
(A. Stein, Innermost Asia ^ Oxford, 1928, pi. cxvii, A. 021)
and Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar^ II, pi. xill,
no. 139).
49 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 9.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40,170.483
Reddish engobe. Across the center, a band of black with
superimposed pseudo inscription in white slip. The band
possibly continued up to the rim on either side. Stilt
marks present.
50 DISH
D 12.4, H 3.5 cm ; near ViUage Tepe
MMA 37.40.16
(Color Plate 7, page xviii)
Reddish body, earth red engobe. Well turned. Base
slightly concave. Exterior undecorated. Interior: painted
in black and dotted with white slip, a zigzag line between
two parallel lines crossing the vessel, and a circumscribing
line near the rim. On either side of the central band is a
spiky plantlike form, painted in yellow-staining black on
a local ground of white slip. Smaller triangular plantlike
forms in the same technique fill the spaces of the zigzag.
169
51 DISH FRAGMENT
W 5.75 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA study piece
Reddish body, light red engobe. Decoration : radial lance-
olate forms alternating with near circles, both forms
painted in black, outlined with spots of white slip and
filled with white-dotted rosettes. Filling most of the space
between the forms is an area of white slip upon which
small stars appear in yellow-staining black.
52 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 9.6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Turned very thin. Light red engobe. Glaze colorless ex-
cept where yellowed by decoration in yellow-staining
black. Around the wall, a series of purplish black tri-
angles, their bases toward the bottom, filled with rows of
white spots. A white-dotted line of purplish black is at the
rim; another encircles the bottom. In each triangular
space around the Avail is a small triangle of white slip with
superimposed outline and spots in yellow-staining black.
A disk of white on the bottom is ornamented in the same
technique. Stilt marks present.
53 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 18.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.92
Red body, reddish engobe. The base, concave, has the
characteristic appearance of an Afrasiyab piece, but no
examples decorated like this one are included in the sherd
collection in Berlin. In the center, five lozenges ; the outer
ones, having irregular sides, appear in a cruciform ar-
rangement. Three are painted in black with superimposed
white spots ; two are painted in white with superimposed
strokes of yellow-staining black. Around the wall are eight
radial U-shapes, four in black with white spots, four in
white with yellow-staining black. Although these shapes
resemble letters, they have no orthographical meaning.
The use of meaningless or nearly meaningless letters also
occurs in the buff ware (Group 1, 62), but there, in the
richer decoration, they play a subordinate role. For a vari-
ant of the lozenge device in another ware, see Group 8, 15.
170
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engobe
172
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engohe
Slip-painted Ware with Colored Engohe
175
6
Opaque White Ware
and Its Imitations
j/V distinctive type of earthenware widely made in the
Near East during the ninth and tenth centuries was one
covered with an opaque white glaze containing lead, its
degree of opacity depending on the amount of tin in-
cluded. There is no evidence that such a glaze was
employed in the Sasanian period — that is, from the third
century to the seventh. Nonetheless it was not a new
invention in the ninth century. Artificially prepared tin
oxide was found in the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun, who
died in 1355 B.C. (A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials
and Industries^ London, 1934, p. 125), and an opaque
white glaze was used extensively on the tiles of a palace
of Ramses II (1304-1237 B.C.) (W. C. Hayes, Glazed Tiles
From a Palace ofRamesses II at Kantir^ New York, 1937,
pi. vn, p. 26). Perhaps the best-known ancient occurrence
of such a glaze is on the brick decorations made in Baby-
lon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (605-563 B.C.).
The bricks, made of grit and clay, were molded in rehef
so that when assembled they formed figures of hons or
composites of various beasts and birds. The opaque
white glaze used on their bodies stands out boldly,
together with a bright yellow, from a general background
of blue (R. Koldewey, Das Wieder Erstehende Babylon,
Leipzig, 1925, figs. 16, 29-31, 64). Nearly as well known,
perhaps, is a frieze of archers from an Achaemenid palace
built at Susa in the fourth century B.C. ; on this the glaze
is used both on the dresses of the archers and the orna-
ment {Encyclopedic photographique de Part, Paris, 1936,
II, pp. 50-52).
Although the application of opaque white glaze to
earthenware bowls seems to have been practiced in west-
ern Asia as early as the second millennium B.C. (Parrot,
Syria, XVIII, p. 82, pi. xv), the white always appeared in
combination with other colors: blue, yellow, or beige.
Vessels glazed entirely white or near white do not seem
to have been made generally until the Achaemenid period
(sixth to fourth century B.C.). White-glazed vessels of this
period and the succeeding Parthian period (323 B.c-
A.D. 226) have been found at many sites, including Susa
(a flask in the MetropoUtan, 48.98.2) and Seleucia (Debe-
voise, Parthian Pottery, p. 34). The white of these early
pieces is generally grayish, and the glaze on all is alkaUne
— a type of glaze not used in Nishapur until after the
estabhshment there of an opaque white glaze containing
lead.
As noted at the outset, it has not yet been demon-
strated that opaque white glaze was used in the Sasanian
period, even in the lowland regions where it had been
used earher. At Ctesiphon, for example, opaque white
ware was unearthed only in the early Islamic areas. And
present evidence, as noted in the Introduction, is that no
glazed earthenware of any description was made in the
plateau region of Iran during the Sasanian period.
Whether or not there was an interruption in the pro-
duction of opaque white ware during the Sasanian period,
the glaze was employed with great efiect in Iraq by
Islamic potters of the ninth century. Analysis of frag-
ments of good-quahty Iraqi ware found in Nishapur
indicate that the opaque glaze of these imported pieces
contains less lead than is found in clear lead glazes. The
glaze appears to have been used initially in the Islamic
period to imitate the white or cream-colored ware im-
ported from China in the eighth and ninth centuries.
The Chinese ware was high fired and porcelanous. The
potters of Iraq were either unable to imitate it exactly or,
more probably, they did not choose to do so. Lacking
kaohn, a felspathic white clay, the white body used by
the Chinese, and firing their pottery at lower tempera-
tures, they achieved something of the efi'ect by covering
their yeUow-burning clay with opaque white glaze.
Although kaoHn was not available to potters in Iraq, it is
worth noting that nineteenth-century potters of Turke-
stan used this clay, obtaining it near Ablyk in the Karnan
Mountains between Tashkent and Khokand (E. Schuyler,
Turkistan, London, 1876, I, pp. 187-188).
The Chinese vessel most often copied in Iraq was a
179
180
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
bowl with five raised ribs or ^^rays" on the inner wall.
The rims of the Chinese originals are sHghtly indented
at the upper end of each rib, so that five wide, graceful
lobes are suggested. The walls of these bowls vary in
thickness from five to as Httle as two and a half milli-
meters, and the color varies from a cold white to a warm
cream. Such pieces, or their remains, have been found at
many sites in the Islamic world, including Nishapur
(Group 10, 1-3, 5). The copies made in Iraq do not have
the thinness and the fine cold white of the best Chinese
pieces, and the copies made in Nishapur are even less
adept. The grayish surface of some of the Islamic pieces
may have been intended or it may be the result of time
and decay; the technical investigation that would deter-
mine this has not yet been made.
It is not known precisely where the Chinese ware was
first imitated. While the center could have been Samarra,
which was active as the seat of the caHphate from 836 to
892, it was more hkely either Basra or Kufa. It is known
that glassmakers, mat weavers, and potters went from
Basra to Samarra and that painters and potters went from
Samarra to Kufa. Fragments of the ware found at a kiln
site at Basra are in the MetropoHtan (52.130.1-26). The
center in question could also have been Baghdad, which,
as the earher capital, would have drawn to itself many of
the best craftsmen. In any case, the potters of Nishapur
evidently acquired the technique from their fellow crafts-
men in Iraq.
The potters of Iraq copied in their opaque white ware
other Chinese shapes than those with raised rays and
also made shapes that were not inspired by Chinese
models. On the latter, not content with the unadorned
white of the Chinese pieces, they usually added decora-
tion in color according to their own notions of design.
These more elaborate pieces, which were highly prized,
fall into two groups: one decorated with blue, or blue
and green, and one decorated with monochrome, bi-
chrome, or polychrome luster. Occasionally the two
treatments are combined in pieces decorated with luster
and green ( Victoria and Albert Museum Annual Review^
1930, pp. 14-15, fig. 8; 1934, pp. 8, 9) or luster and
blue (fragment from Ctesiphon, in the MetropoHtan,
32.150.123). Both these groups have been fully described,
the pieces found at Samarra in Sarre, Die Keramik von
Samarra, those at Susa in Koechlin, Les Ceramiques,
Other illuminating discussions of this material are in
Kiihnel, Ars Islamica, I, pp. 149-159; Pope, Survey^ II,
pp. 1487-1493; Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pp. 14-16.
The opaque white ware of Iraq decorated with blue or
blue and green required two imported materials. The tin
for opacifying the glaze was brought, so far as is known,
from Syria (A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and
Industries^ London, 1934, pp. 212-213), even though it
existed near Kashan in Iran; and the cobalt used for the
soft dark blue was imported from Iran or the Caucasus
(ibid., p. 218). It seems less hkely that the cobalt came
from Iran, if only because cobalt does not appear to have
been used in Iran for ceramic decoration before the elev-
enth or twelfth century. It has been suggested (Lane,
Early Islamic Pottery^ p. 14) that the use of cobalt was
restricted to the factories of Iraq, few in number, that
produced luster ware, and that these factories did not
care to disclose their trade secrets. In any case, cobalt
was not used in Nishapur in the ninth or tenth century,
which fact reminds us that Nishapur, despite its known
importance, neither equaled the seat of the caUphate as
a center of fashion nor had the power to draw to itself
the most valued and expert of Islamic potters.
Both groups of the Iraqi ware, which were probably
not produced in separate factories, were well made and
obviously not designed for the poor. A large export of
the wares developed to Egypt, Spain, Syria, Iran, and
Transoxiana. It is now known that luster ware, inspired
by the Iraqi products, was made in Egypt (Schnyder,
Ars Orientalis, V, pp. 49-78); that it was made in the
ninth or tenth century in western Iran is doubtful. A
number of the exported Iraqi pieces, decorated in blue
and green, were found in Nishapur (1-6). This ware was
eventually copied in Nishapur, but the copies do not
attain the excellence of the imports. Although the potters
of Khurasan in general and Nishapur in particular pro-
duced sHp-painted vessels that to our eyes are the equal
of the wares made in Iraq, the contemporary view in Iraq
was otherwise. The flow of the ceramics, accordingly,
was from Iraq to Iran, not the reverse.
The Nishapur potters, Hke those of Iraq, employed tin
to opacify their glaze, but their sparing use of it, suggest-
ing that it was difficult to obtain, resulted in glazes of
poor quahty. In place of the cobalt blue used in Iraq, the
Nishapur potters used manganese, a poor substitute since
it produced a near black rather than a dark blue. This
same substitution, incidentally, was practiced elsewhere:
in Rayy, Syria, and Egypt.
Green presented no problem to the Nishapur potters,
since copper was at hand. However, it is to be noted that
the green of the Nishapur vessels is less brilhant than that
of the imports. Even the clay body of the Nishapur pieces
is distinguishable from that of the Iraqi pieces, since it is
coarser. Rarely yellow Hke the Iraqi body, it usually
ranges from buff to red. The imported pieces are thinly
turned and of good shape, with foot rings, even on small
dishes. The Nishapur copies are thick and heavy, and
there is Uttle variation in their shape. The foot ring was
a feature not copied; the bases of the local vessels are
often flat or only sHghtly concave, and quite commonly
they have a groove near the edge about five milUmeters
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
181
wide. Occasionally there are two such grooves. Substi-
tuting for a foot ring, such grooves are also to be seen in
other Nishapur wares: the buff and the opaque yellow.
Nishapur produced a variety of vessels in this ware,
decorated in green or in green and near black: bowls,
plates, jars, and small lamps. However, it appears that no
attempt was made to reproduce the large thin platters (4)
that were made in Iraq.
The Nishapur products can readily be distinguished
from those of Afrasiyab, where a type evolved using small
spots of green on the opaque white ground (Erdmann,
Faenza^ XXV, pis. xxvni h, xxix d, f). None of this ware
was imported to Nishapur; not a fragment of it was
found. The Nishapur products can be distinguished from
the opaque white ware of Rayy not so much by its deco-
ration as by the color of the Rayy black, which is brown-
ish, and the color of the Rayy glaze, which is yellowish.
The decoration of the Nishapur pieces is usually sim-
ple, lacking the elegance of the imports. The bowls are
decorated on the inside only. The green is usually apphed
in groups of streaks or single blobs that run from the rim
toward the bottom. The potters made no attempt to copy
the leafy forms, trees, or styHzed patterns such as Solo-
mon's seals, crosses, and tuhplike forms that adorn the
imports. The black is used almost exclusively for the
Kufic inscriptions, only approximations, that accompany
the green streaks or blobs. In the best of the bowls there
is a certain deUcacy in the drawing of the "inscription,"
and even a near accuracy; in the poorest, the lettering
deteriorates into a series of uprights and loops. The base
Hne is used with inscriptions on the opaque ware of Iraq;
thus it is not pecuUar to Nishapur. A feature of the
inscriptions on these Nishapur imitations (10, 20, 41) is
that all the letters, contrary to usual calUgraphic practice,
are joined together by a connecting hne at their base.
See also an example in the black on white ware (Group 3,
23). Certain arrangements of script were not copied in
Nishapur: for example, that in which the writing is
formed into a central square (Sarre, Die Keramik von
Samarra^ pi. xvm, no. 3; Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 571).
Also, no vessels were found with several Unes of inscrip-
tion across the center, such as were made in Iraq and
imitated in Rayy, after the fashion of those shown in
Pezard, Ceramique (pi. cxii, lower). The Nishapur potters
preferred to paint their inscriptions as a Hne extending
from the rim toward the bottom. In many bowls one Kne
of inscription is placed across the bottom ; this is occa-
sionally supplemented by two other hues at right angles
on the sides (ll). Some of these inscriptions resemble
those to be seen in the opaque yellow ware (Group 7,
2, 3); in view of this, and the fact that the glazes of both
wares contain tin, it is conceivable that they were pro-
duced in the same potteries.
A few exceptional pieces were discovered that may or
may not have been made in Nishapur, among them some
with inscriptions in green. One such (2l) has an unusual
planthke form in black on the bottom. Although it would
be wrong to assume that every unusual piece must neces-
sarily be an import, the chance is that this one was not
made in Nishapur. Another exceptional bowl (25) has
part of its decoration in yellow, a color found on no other
bowl of this particular group. Two other unusual pieces
(22 and 27) are decorated in a dull grayish blue; pieces
with a similar color have not come to light elsewhere.
Luster ware, the other type of opaque white ware
exported in quantity from Iraq, is well represented in
the finds at Nishapur. The controversy as to where in
the Islamic world the technique was invented, and in
what centers it was employed, continues. Nishapur can
add nothing helpful to the search except her evidence
that she did not make luster ware. She did, however,
imitate it. Two techniques were used in the imitations.
In one, the potters painted their designs upon an opaque
white glaze that was notably poorer than that of their
ware decorated in green and black. In the other, more
often employed, the designs were painted upon a white
engobe, after which a clear lead glaze was apphed. Occa-
sionally a httle tin was added to this glaze, but so Httle
that it caused only a milkiness. The type of luster ware
most commonly copied in Nishapur was that decorated
in monochrome, perhaps because of its relative simplic-
ity. For this the potters used a thick appHcation of green
sKp. Varying in hue and warmth, it can best be de-
scribed as ohve green. Containing a trace of chrome,
it usually stains the glaze shghtly yellow in its vicinity.
This sHp, which was not employed in Iraq or the west
generally, also occurs on two other Nishapur wares, the
polychrome on white and the ware with colored engobe.
The same green, in conjunction with other colors, not-
ably red, appears on ceramics of Khurasan, Gurgan, and
Transoxiana. In combinations with other colors, the
green is to be considered a development of underglaze
shp-painted ware in general rather than an attempt to
imitate luster ware.
The combination of white engobe, slip-painted deco-
ration, and lead glaze does not make a very successful
imitation of luster ware, inasmuch as no trace of metallic
sheen or iridescence is produced. Nevertheless, the pot-
ters who exploited this combination — it was used in
Afrasiyab even more than in Nishapur — often produced
well-designed and pleasing decorations. It is frequently
not possible to say of the pieces found in Nishapur that
they were made there, or imported from Afrasiyab.
Certain pecuharities of design in these pieces are remi-
niscent of the original luster ware. One such is the treat-
ment of the leafy forms that connect with one another
182
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
rather than to a central stem (42), a form that first played
a part in the decoration of tenth-century polychrome
luster bowls (Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, p. 148, fig. 1; Cres-
well, Early Muslim Architecture^ II, pis. 86A, no. 26)
and tiles (Bahgat &: Massoul, Cer antique musulmane, pis.
V, Vi) but was more fuUy developed in the tenth century
in the monochrome luster. Another copied motif was that
of a bird with a leaf in its beak (45); for the original
versions see Pezard, Ceramique^ pis. cxvni, cxix. The
inscriptions of the luster ware are imitated fairly well
even though they come close, at times, to being the
pseudo inscriptions that the Nishapur potters used in
their opaque white ware decorated in green and black.
This form of pseudo writing is, in fact, not unknown in
the original luster ware (KoechHn, Les Ceramiques^ pi.
XXIII, no. 160; Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xvi,
no. l). Minor details of monochrome luster ware also
were copied, such as the fashion of drawing a thin Hue
through small circular spots, the use of peacock eyes to
fill such areas as birds' wings, and the fiUing of back-
grounds with outUned areas containing spots. Half-
moons at the rim, sometimes with hnear additions, appear
on both luster and imitation luster pieces. Certain pecu-
liarities perhaps indicate the eastern origin of some of the
pieces excavated in Transoxiana and Khurasan. The
heavily outHned circles of 40 and the ovoid compart-
ments of 41 are examples ; both are common elements in
the designs of Transoxiana.
The eastern potters, freeing themselves from making
close copies of the originals, drew birds such as were
never seen on any luster ware. Particularly strange are
some with ruffled wings, appearing in heavily outHned
circles (40). The circles are a feature of many pottery
designs of Afrasiyab, but no bowls with birds Uke these
have been found there. In addition to these pecuHar
birds, not encountered on any type of glazed earthenware
made west of Khurasan, the potters of the imitation luster
ware made use of birds, especially doves or pigeons (44),
that resembled certain ones in monochrome luster ware
closely [Kunst Schatze aus Iran Exhibition Catalogue, pi.
70). Unaccountably, other exceedingly common luster
decorations were never copied in the east, despite the
fact that the luster vessels were imported to Nishapur.
A few sherds prove that they were imported to Afrasiyab
also. Included in the group found in Nishapur are luster
pieces with representations of human figures. In the mat-
ter of drawing, no attempt was made by the eastern imi-
tators to scratch patterns through their oHve green sHp.
This scratching technique was used by Egyptian potters
of the Fatimid period (969-1171) in making luster ware
(Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 26 A; Bahgat & Massoul,
Ceramique musulmane^ pis. x-xn, xxi-xxm, and others).
In Nishapur and Afrasiyab this scratching technique was
employed only in the black on white ware, polychrome
on white ware, and sHp-painted ware with colored en-
gob e, all as made in the tenth century and perhaps the
early eleventh.
Another form of luster ware apparently copied in
Nishapur is that with bichrome decoration. Imitating
this, the local potters employed a rich brownish sHp and
achieved a two-tone efi*ect by staining the nearly colorless
glaze, in selected areas, a clear, strong, warmish yellow
(see Color Plate 8, page xix). The brownish slip is
appHed rather heavily on the white engobe so that it
stands above the general surface. The effect somewhat
resembles that type of bichrome luster ware of which a
bowl in the Staathche Museen, BerUn, is the outstanding
example (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xm). The
designs of the imitation ware feature outhned compart-
ments filled with peacock eyes, dottings, and thick V-
forms associated with thin curhng Knes (49-51). The last
of these motifs is not to be seen on the luster productions
of Iraq, and the only close resemblance to it, perhaps
fortuitous, is on a bichrome luster bowl excavated at
Hama, a bowl that may have been made in Raqqa
(Ingholt, Rapport preliminaire^ pi. xlvii, no. 2). It occurs,
however, in Nishapur itself in another ware, the bufi".
Also included in the decoration of the imitation bichrome
luster are planthke forms and strongly styKzed birds,
both on a small scale. Crude simulations of the word
barakeh (blessing) appear on some examples, for instance
a Nishapur bowl the Metropohtan acquired by purchase
(63.159.1). When the imitation bichrome luster bowls
have flattish rims, these may be decorated with half-
moons, a feature of luster bowls of Iraq beginning in the
ninth century. The flat Hp itself was a feature of opaque
white wares of Iraq, and it also was copied in Nishapur
in its opaque white ware imitations and its bufi* ware.
One other type of ware found in quantity in Nishapur
can possibly be considered an imitation of luster ware.
Forming a group related to, but not identical with, an-
other employing the same technique at Afrasiyab, the
ware is decorated with an underglaze painting in black
that stains the glaze yellow. However, because a second
black, nonstaining, plays an important role in the design,
and sometimes even a red occurs, the ware is considered
separately, as Group 8.
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
183
1 a,b BOWL
D 15, H 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Everted lip. Base has foot ring. Glaze distinctly gray, as
is not uncommon in this ware. Overglaze decoration in
strong blue. On the bottom, a cross potent in a Solomon's
seal. The subsidiary triangles of the Solomon's seal are
hatched. Extending from the six tips are pairs of L-shapes,
back to back, linked with a semicircular stroke. These
shapes give the effect, perhaps unintended, that the
central figure is surrounded by six large petals. Imported,
presumably from Iraq. Found in the lowest level of a
ninth-century building, together with a buff ware bowl
(Group 1, 7).
Triangles are a common feature in this type of bowl,
appearing either superimposed in pairs, forming a Solo-
mon's seal, as here and on a bowl from Susa (Koechlin,
Les Ceramiques^ pi. xii, no, 84), or singly, with the tips
hatched, as on another Susa bowl (ibid., pL xii, no. 92).
Hatching fills the triangular corners of a figure made of
two squares on a ninth -century opaque white ware bowl
from Iraq (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. SA) ; a similar
figure occurs on a bowl from Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik
von Samarra^ pi. XX, no. 3). The pairs of L-shapes, with
or without the connecting link, appear on a number of
bowls, including the two from Susa mentioned above, and
also, with a link, on a piece from Antioch (Waage, Antioch-
on~the-Orontes, IV, part 1, fig. 53, no. 2). In a stubbier
version, without the link, they occur on two polychrome
on white ware bowls found in Nishapur (Group 4, 30, 50),
2 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 21.3, H 5.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Base has a foot ring. Overglaze decoration in blue. In the
center, repeated, a word in Kufic, perhaps intended to be
ghabteh (well-being). Around the rim, freely drawn half-
moons enclosed in double contoured lines with spots
added at the junctions. An import.
The inscription ghabteh appears on similar bowls found
elsewhere, for example, on a bowl from Susa (David-
Weill, Musees de France^ May, 1950, p. 86, fig. 9) and on
a bowl from Rayy (Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. Cix, top right).
3 BOWL
D 21.5, H 6.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.6
]
1:3
Soft, sandy, yellow body, eroded glaze. Foot ring. Decora-
tion: three leaflike forms in blue spaced around a central
spot. Very different from the usual Islamic palmette, these
forms are drawn in an almost Chinese manner. An im-
ported piece. The softness of the body may be due to
disintegration; a fragment of a similar piece from Ctesi-
phon in the Metropolitan (32.150.122) has a hard body.
Bowls of similar shape, with similar decoration, have also
been found at Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^
pi. XVIII, no. 4). One of uncertain origin is illustrated in
Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 573 C. Fragments of similar bowls
were found in Nishapur as well as a complete bowl of the
same shape but without decoration, the latter now in the
Teheran museum. All of these were imports with a hard
yellowish body. Some, like their Chinese models, had
raised ^Vays" on the interior.
4 FRAGMENT
H 17, W 11.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.461
Part of a dish or platter of large size and fine quality.
Hard yellowish body, slightly gray glaze. Despite the close
resemblance of this body to that found in the wares of
Hamadan, analysis shows a clear distinction. Upturned
rim. Base glazed. No foot ring. Decoration: a Kufic in-
scription in blue, saying ya]ml Ibrahim (made by Ibra-
him). Probably there was no other decoration. An import
from Iraq. A fragment of an opaque white ware bowl from
Ctesiphon, bearing the inscription ''ami Ibrah[im] is in
the MetropoUtan (32.150.92).
5 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 5.7 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Foot ring present. Decoration in blue: a tuliplike form
flanked by a sprig of trilobed leaves. An imported piece.
Similar tuliplike forms occur on pieces from Samarra
(Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ fig. 99; Erdmann,
Berliner Museen^ XIV, p. 14, fig. 14). The conjunction of
conventional forms and naturalistic foliage, exemplified
on 5, was popular in Iraqi ninth-century polychrome
luster pottery (Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. cxxxiii, lower;
Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, p. 155, fig. 3; Lane, Early Islamic
Pottery\ pi. llB). This type of design, however, was not
copied in Nishapur,
6 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 5.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.460
Low foot ring, typical of this ware as found in Iraq. Body
almost white, of a type not used in Nishapur. A splash of
green (at right in illustration) obliterates the beginning
of a Kufic inscription in blue. An import. Few pieces with
184
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
decoration in both blue and green were found in Nishapur
and none were of considerable size.
7 DISH
D 21.5, H 4.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Coarse reddish body. Base has bevel at edge. Glaze,
unevenly applied, is scant on tin, so not really opaque.
Decoration : blobs of green on the everted rim and a spot
of green on the bottom. Probably made in Nishapur.
Fragments of similar dishes found in the excavations indi-
cate that some were decorated with groups of three green
strokes at the rim, somewhat in the manner of 10. Some
had the beveled base of 7, others plain bases, such as one
1:3
from Sabz Pushan. One had two narrow grooves around
the bottom: see 10 for a single such groove.
BOWL
D 31.5, H 4.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.91
1:3
1:3
8, found in the excavations, in the Teheran museum. This
bowl, likewise probably an import, has a hard yellowish
body unlike that of 8 and a creamy white rather than a
cold white glaze. Fragments of one or two other bowls,
better potted than 8, but having this hard yellowish body
and creamy white glaze, were found. Two examples also
from Tepe Madraseh and now in the Teheran museum
1:3
A ninth-century copy, probably imported from the west,
of Chinese ware. Yellowish buff body, cold white glaze.
Rather thick walls, everted rim, properly made foot ring.
On the interior five raised ^^rays" extend from the bottom
to the rim. There is no suggestion of a groove at the
junction of wall and bottom, even though such a groove
was quite common in several wares of Iraq and eastern
Iran in the ninth century. It occurs in a bowl resembling
are shown in the drawings here, as well as an example
from Sabz Pushan. As can be seen, the shapes vary con-
siderably. Furthermore, fragments of actual Chinese
pieces with raised "rays" were found in Nishapur (Group
10, 1-3, 6). A small bowl resembling 8 found at al-Mina,
Syria (Lane, Archaeologia^ LXXXVII, pi. xvi, fig. 2) is
considered by Lane to be an import from Iraq.
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
185
9 BOWL
D 39, H 11 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Buff body. Poorly potted, rim uneven. Base slightly con-
cave. Glaze has run to one side, showing that the vessel
was tilted in the kiln. Decoration: three groups of green
strokes on the wall, run together, and a green blob on the
bottom. No other bowl quite like this was found. Probably
an import.
10 BOWL
D 32, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.L70.13
Reddish buff body. On the base, in lieu of a foot ring,
two concentric grooves. Everted rim, a characteristic fea-
ture of Nishapur's imitations of Iraqi opaque white ware
bowls. A groove encircles the bottom. Decoration: five
groups of green streaks descend from the rim, and two
radial lengths of pseudo inscription, one upside down in
relation to the other, appear on opposite walls. The
inscriptions have no meaning, unlike those of imported
pieces, which are usually legible (4), and they are in
black rather than blue — still another sign of local manu-
facture. Even though the inscriptions are simulated, vari-
ous decorative features used in proper writing are present,
such as an added slanting stroke at the top of the verticals
(here somewhat exaggerated), dottings on the horizontals,
and arrowlike marks. These arrowlike marks are a feature
of the pseudo writing in the opaque yellow ware (Group
7, 3, 4, 5) and can also be seen in the luster ware above
the letter sad (Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, p. 156, fig. 7).
Probably ninth century.
1:3
11 BOWL
D 32, H 10.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Yellow body. Green splashes, more or less evenly spaced,
once decorated the rim; these have mostly disintegrated.
In the center, forming a cross, are three lines of pseudo
inscription in black, one traversing the bottom, the others
at right angles on opposite walls. Irregular in form, the
letters have triply divided finials. Locally manufactured.
The letters, some of which have been reversed, are prob-
ably a poor version of an inscription to be seen in the
black on white ware (Group 3, 14),
12 BOWL
D 20.3, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.75
Reddish body. Everted rim. Four groups of green streaks
at the rim, a pseudo inscription in black across the bot-
tom. The script is poorly executed, with parts of the
^^letters" floating above the base line, giving them the
appearance of being drawn in reverse. Locally made. One
of many bowls with a single line of "inscription" on the
bottom.
13 BOWL
D 21, H 6.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Yellowish body. Decoration : green splashes, roughly tri-
angular, spaced around the rim, and an indecipherable
radial inscription in black on one wall; as on 12, the
inscription gives the impression of being in mirror writ-
ing. The use of black rather than blue in the inscription
and the poor quality of the glaze both indicate local
1:3
186
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
manufacture. Although the yellowish body is less com-
mon than the reddish, wasters from the Nishapur kilns
confirm that yellow-bodied wares were made there.
14 BO WL (minor restoration)
D 20.7, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.164
Buff body. Carelessly made, with several irregular grooves
on interior surface (one visible in the illustration, midway
between the inscription and the strokes at the rim). Base
has a wide groove near the edge. Glaze, sparsely applied,
suffers from a paucity of tin. Decoration: three groups of
green strokes at the rim (badly disintegrated) and a radial
inscription in black. More ornamental than usual, and
better executed than most on these locally made bowls,
it consists of the word barakeh (blessing).
15 BOWL
D 20.7, H 5.8 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MMA 39.40.9
1:3
Reddish body. Flat, grooveless base. Decoration: five
groups of green streaks descending from the rim and a
radial "inscription" in black. Locally manufactured. The
style of writing, with an arrowlike mark placed above the
horizontal letter (compare 10), is similar to that on some
of the opaque yellow ware with decoration in green
(Group 7, 2-4). The exaggerated sloping added strokes
at the top of the verticals also appear in both groups
(Group 7, 3, 4). As 15 and a number of opaque yellow
pieces were found in the same low -level pit, a date of the
ninth century is indicated.
16 BOWL
D 20.5, H 6.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.109
Reddish body. Base has a groove near the edge. Decora-
tion : small splashes of green around the rim and a crudely
drawn radial pseudo inscription in black. Locally manu-
factured. Bowls with similar splashes of green were not
rare.
17 BOWL
D 19.5, H 5.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body with core redder than surface. Decoration :
four single splashes of green at the rim and a radial pseudo
inscription in black. Locally manufactured. It seems likely
that similar vessels in Group 7 were also locally made,
although the calligraphy is not identical.
18 BOWL
D 18.5, H 7 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
Buff body. Decoration: five splashes of green at the rim,
a spot of green on the bottom, and a radial pseudo
inscription in black. Locally manufactured. Doubtless by
the same hand that decorated 10, since the tops of the
verticals in the inscriptions have the same exaggerated
added strokes. However, a triangle takes the place of the
"arrow" on the horizontal stroke.
19 BOWL
D 23.8, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Buff body. Five splashes of green at rim and green spot
on bottom (compare 18) and a debased, meaningless
radial "inscription" in black. Locally manufactured. A
few very small bowls of this ware — of different shape,
usually with a rim rather than a lip like 19 — were found.
These were decorated with green splashes but without
inscriptions :
1:3
20 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 22.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.424
Part of a large bowl with flaring sides, perhaps shaped
like 9. Yellow body. Decoration: green streaks and a
radial "inscription" painted in a clear purple. Fired
inverted, the glaze of the streaks accumulating at the rim.
The "inscription," treated more as a simple decoration
than others in this group, is in a style not repeated in
this ware or any other ware found in Nishapur. Further-
more, this is the only example of an opaque white ware
bowl with an inscription in purple. Most likely an import.
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
187
21 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 22.2 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Although nothing about the body or glaze is unusual for
Nishapur, the decoration, consisting of two leafy forms
painted in outline, back to back, and a radial "inscrip-
tion" in unusual style, painted in green rather than black,
suggests that the piece was an import.
22 FRAGMENT
W 16.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170,523
A portion of this fragment is in Teheran. Reddish body.
A green blob at the rim and an inscription, base toward
the rim, in a dull grayish blue. Quite unlike the strong
blue to be seen on such indubitable imports as 1—6, this
color is rare in Nishapur, 27 being the only other example
found. Place of manufacture uncertain.
The inscription reads :
t
"[at the] end, reward [praise]." which is apparently part
of the formula :
"Each existence has its predestination and each act its
consequence."
23 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 11.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40,170.60
Part of a large bowl with everted rim. Gritty yellowish
body. Decoration: streaks of opaque white, some of which
are straight and regular, others not, and painting in a
strong, clear purple. Possibly the design consisted of a
purple cross defined by narrow white lines, with indefinite
marblings filling the areas between the arms. The exterior
is covered with a patternless mixture of opaque white and
a nearly black purple. No similar piece was found. Doubt-
less an import. The decoration seems to resemble that of
a Nishapur color-splashed bowl (Group 2, 11) and a
color-splashed bowl from Samarra (Hobson, Islamic Pot-
tery^ fig. 13). There is an even closer resemblance to a
color-splashed jar found in Fustat, Egypt, now in the
Benaki Museum, Athens (unpublished). It is possible that
both 23 and this jar were made in Iraq.
24 JAR FRAGMENT
H lOd cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.425
On the inside (not illustrated) the glaze is so thinly
applied that the red of the body shows through. On the
outside it is applied unevenly, the color varying from
reddish to white according to the thickness. Decoration :
splashes of green and a tree drawn in purplish black, the
trunk and leaves colored green. The same tree motif
occurs on a buff ware bowl made in Nishapur (Group 1,
73), suggesting that the present piece may also be of
local make.
25 BOWL
D 22.2, H 7.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Body and glaze like those of other locally manufactured
pieces. All the decoration, on the other hand, is unusual.
The meaningless "inscription" descending from the rim
is in green (compare 21) rather than the customary black.
On the bottom, drawn in black outline, a pair of Kufic
letters, connected and repeated. On the wall opposite
the green inscription, a unique design consisting of a
series of curved lines in yellow with green spots painted
upon them. No other opaque white ware bowl found in
Nishapur had any of its decoration in yellow; yellow,
however, appears occasionally in the opaque white ware
of Samarra (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery., p. 13). The two
groups of curved strokes at the rim of 25, perhaps a
vestigal form of the border motif seen on 2, are in green.
Place of origin uncertain.
26 JAR
H 26.6 cm, D 22.4; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
1:3
188
Opaque White Ware and Its Imilations
Gritty yellow body. Glaze, almost completely disinte-
grated, possibly once had some green splashes upon it.
Interior glazed. On the shoulder, three small curved lugs
(one barely visible on the right in the illustration). Ninth
century. Probably imported from Iraq. The only opaque
white ware jar found. Similar lugs occur on opaque yellow
ware jars. They are also to be seen, in larger form, on a
ninth-century opaque white ware jar with blue and green
decoration found in Susa, now in the Metropolitan
(32.149). Ajar of the same shape with lugs standing free
was found in Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^
fig. 146) ; this jar, splashed with green, is considered to
be a copy of Oriental stoneware.
27 BOWL
D 20.2, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Maclraseli
MMA 40.170.88
Reddish buff body. Poorly made. Covering the base, the
glaze caused the piece to stand unevenly. Glaze now
badly disintegrated. Decoration: three blobs of green at
the rim and a radial ^inscription" in the same grayish
blue seen on 22, for which reason it is probable that the
two pieces came from the same factory. Were it not for
this rare color, there would be no reason to suspect that
either piece was made anywhere but in Nishapur.
28 a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
W 14.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.457c
A portion of this fragment is in Teheran. Part of a large
ninth-century polychrome lustered bowl imported from
Iraq. Hard, pale greenish yellow body. Opaque white
glaze with luster decoration on interior in sienna yellow,
reddish brown, and umber. At the rim, a wreath of closely
placed leaves growing from a very thin stem. Below this,
a second border with reserve ovals and tiny triangles. The
center decoration fragmentary. On the exterior (28b), a
reddish oval, hatched, and a background hatching in
salmon pink. The combination of careful drawing on the
interior and loose treatment on the exterior is customary
in ninth-century polychrome luster ware (compare 29).
29 a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
W 9.5 cm ; Tepe Maclraseh
MMA 40.170.457e
A ninth-century polychrome luster piece imported from
Iraq. Pale grayish yellow body. Thinly turned, with well-
made foot ring. Glaze distinctly gray. Colors on interior,
yellowish green, yellow brown, reddish brown ; on exterior
(29b), yellow and dark red. Decoration on interior: a
variety of outlined shapes containing herringbone, pea-
cock eyes, and other devices, and an inverted cone shape
more or less solidly filled in. Exterior: broad strokes.
freely applied. There is the same contrast between the
decoration of the interior and exterior noted at 28.
According to Kiihnel, who divided the luster ware of the
Abbasid period into several distinct groups, 29 should be
dated to about 860 (Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I, p. 148, fig. 2).
30 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 8.4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.457g
Part of a large ninth-century polychrome lustered bowl
from Iraq. Compact yellow body. The glaze, which has
hairline cracks, is less opaque than it is on monochrome
luster pieces found in Nishapur (34-39) ; it is thus
warmer, closer to ivory than to true white. Colors on the
interior (illustrated), yellow, brown, and dark near green;
on the exterior, blobs of sienna yellow. At the rim is a
unique border consisting of groups of three spots arranged
to form triangles, pointing alternately up and down. The
rest of the interior was apparently divided into a variety
of outlined shapes after the fashion of 29, some filled with
peacock eyes, some with small V-shapes.
31 DISH
D 11.7, H 3.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:2
Yellowish body. Properly turned foot ring, flattened rim.
Pure white glaze. No decoration, though one would expect
a vessel of this type to be decorated with polychrome
luster. Probably imported from Iraq.
32 BOWL
D 12.6, H 4.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body, pure white engobe, colorless glaze, no
decoration. A piece of fine quality, attempting to dupli-
cate the effect of such pieces as 31. The whiteness
achieved with a white engobe and colorless glaze sur-
passed that produced with the opaque white glaze used
in Nishapur. Bowls such as this were rare.
33 BOWL
D 13.5, H 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A ninth-century bichrome luster piece from Iraq. Yellow-
ish body. Opaque white glaze, now in poor condition. The
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
189
luster colors are yellow and brown. Decoration: a tree,
extending from rim to rim, flanked by winglike motifs
filled with peacock eyes and dots. On either side of the
tree, a rosette composed of circular spots contained
within a reserved white circle. The exterior of the bowl
is decorated with slanting strokes of luster. Similar wing-
like forms filled with peacock eyes, and having the same
darkening of the curling tips, appear on the exterior of
a deep, luster-decorated bowl from Samarra (Sarre, Die
Keramik von Samarra^ pL xvi, lower). Such forms are
clearly descended from a favorite Sasanian motif, a pair
of wings. A ninth-century polychrome luster bowl from
Iraq in the Metropolitan (41.165.1) has the motif placed
near the top of a tree instead of at the bottom (Dimand,
Handbook^ fig. 103).
34 BOWL
D 11.8, H 3.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40,170.27
1:2
A tenth-century monochrome luster piece, probably from
Iraq. The colors on the opaque white glaze vary from
greenish to sienna yellow. Decoration: a human figure
holding a flask and an unidentified object, the background
filled with dotted compartments. The drawing of the fig-
ure conforms to that on monochrome luster vessels found
at Rayy, Samarra, and Fustat, among other sites. Similar
long-tailed headdresses, for example, occur on a bowl in
the Erickson Exhibition Catalogue, p. 24, no. 2, a bowl in
the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, and a fragment found in
Fustat (Bahgat &: Mas soul, Ceramique musulmane, pi. ii,
no. 7). The treatment of the eyes and nose on the Fustat
fragment is very close to that on 34, suggesting a common
origin. The flask depicted on 34 is of a shape popular in
glass in many places (2000 Jahre persisckes Glas Exhibi-
tion Catalogue, no. 87; C. J. Lamm, Das Glas von Samarra,
Berlin, 1928, pi. v, no. 188); cut-glass bottles found in
Nishapur were of this shape (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art Bulletin, JanuRiy, 1943, p. 181; 40.170.129).
The dotted background and the rim decoration of half-
moons are typical of monochrome luster ware bowls, and
the two peculiar shapes intruding from the rim, possibly
simply devices to balance the design, are also to be seen
on other monochrome luster pieces. The decoration on
the exterior of 34, now very faint, resembles that of 35.
Such imports were not copied in Nishapur. The drawing
of the human figures in the Nishapur buff ware is con-
spicuously different, particularly in the poses and the
headdresses.
35 a,b BOWL
D 12, H 4.75 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A tenth-century monochrome luster piece, probably from
Iraq. The luster is coppery. The interior decoration fea-
tures a ducklike bird within a circle. From this circle five
square forms in reserve rise toward the rim; within each
is a square in outline, filled with V-shaped spots. The
streaming crest seen on this bird, not duplicated on any
of the birds found on Nishapur-made wares, may be a
degenerate survival of the streamers that were attached to
the necks of Sasanian animals. This is suggested by the
fact that long and quite unrealistic crests not only appear
on birds in monochrome luster ware (Medieval Near East-
ern Ceramics, fig. 3; Pope, Survey, V, pi. 577; Pezard,
Ceramique, pi. cxiv) but on animals (Pope, Survey, V,
pi. 578). The decoration on the exterior (35b), typical of
monochrome luster ware, consists of a circle containing
a group of spots, alternating with a cluster of spots super-
imposed on curling hairlines. The latter motif seems to
have been imitated in Khurasan and Transoxiana. A ver-
sion related to it, in that it has supplementary V's, occurs
in the interior decoration of some bichrome luster ware
imitations (49-51) probably made in Nishapur. The Nish-
apur version also occurs in the buff ware (Group 1, 43,
46, among others).
36 FRAGMENT
W 10.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.4571
Monochrome luster ware. Probably tenth century. Prob-
ably made in Iraq. Pale yellowish body. Brilliant opaque
white glaze. Gold luster faded to greenish yellow. Decora-
tion: the bases of what are probably three pairs of leaves
emerge from a trefoil in reserve; between each pair
appears an Arabic word or words; within the trefoil are
three simple leaves and subsidiary curls. On the exterior:
forms similar to the leaves on the interior. On the base,
which has a foot ring, a circle with a portion of what was
perhaps an inscription. Closely related pieces have been
found in Fustat (Bahgat 8c Massoul, Ceramique musul-
mane, pi. vi, no. 6), Susa (Koechhn, Les Ceramiques, pi.
xxm, no. 161), and Syria (Lane, Archaeologia, LXXXVII,
pi. XVI, fig. I, to right of E).
37 a,b FRAGMENT
W 15.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.234
Tenth-century monochrome luster ware. Pale yellow
body, brilliant opaque white glaze, decoration in gold
luster. The interior decoration, consisting of inscriptions
and bold forms with smaller designs inserted in the spaces
between them, closely resembles that of 36. The exterior
190
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
decoration (37b), less massive, is composed of Kufic letter-
ing surrounded by patterns drawn in outline.
In an article by Marilyn Jenkins in the Journal of the
American Research Center in Cairo^ 7, 1968, pp. 119-126,
this piece is indicated as being manufactured in Susa
(ibid., pL V, figs. 9, 10, and p. 123). This is an ingenious
suggestion, but there does not seem to be any reason to
support the affirmation. It is far more likely that the piece
was made in Iraq and imported from there, especially as
a very similar piece was found in Babylon (Wetzel,
Schmidt Sc Mallwitz, Das Babylon der Spdtzeit, ph 49,
no. 1). It is also stated by Miss Jenkins: ^'that tenth-
century Nishapur ware was found at Susa is a well estab-
lished fact," but the reference given (Koechlin, Les Ce-
ramiques^ pi. xiv) ascribes the piece to Afrasiyab (ibid.,
no. 109, p. 70 and also on p. 64). An examination of ex-
cavated pieces from Susa in the Louvre and in the Musee
Ceramique in Sevres shows conclusively that none of the
slip-painted ware, any more than the cover (ibid., 109),
came from Nishapur itself, even though it may have come
from other areas.
38 RIM FRAGMENT
W 9.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Tenth-century monochrome luster ware from Iraq. Color:
yellowish green gold. Decoration: a Kufic inscription,
base toward the rim, consisting of the word barakeh
(blessing), repeated; half-moons at rim.
39 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Tenth-century monochrome luster ware, probably from
Iraq. Yellow body, pure white opaque glaze, yellowish
green luster. Base has a high foot ring. Decoration : a large
bird, its tail adorned with dots and peacock eyes, dotted
compartments filling the background. Half-moons at rim.
In some examples of this ware peacock eyes are used as
an allover pattern (Pope, Survey^ V, pis. 575 D, 576 B).
drawn in a peculiarly mannered way, their tails turned
down at right angles and made to descend lower than
their feet. The filling of their wings with peacock eyes is
reminiscent of the luster ware models (compare 33, 39),
but the strange ruffled outlines of the wings are unique.
The motif that fills the triangular compartments outside
the circles, a spot superimposed on a hairline, is again
reminiscent of true monochrome luster ware (compare
35). In the radial bands the word barakeh (blessing),
written neatly in Kufic, is repeated. Above the kafis an
arrowlike shape that occurs in other inscriptions in this
group of monochrome luster imitations, as well as the
Nishapur opaque white ware decorated with green and
black (10, 15) and the Nishapur opaque yellow ware
(Group 7, 2~4). The present inscription is unlike the
others mentioned in that it is not drawn on a base line.
The half-palmettes that decorate the exterior (40b), here
drawn in outline, are more usually painted solid on the
luster ware originals (Baghat 8c Massoul, Ceramique
musulmane^ pi. vi, no. 8).
41 a,b BOWL
D 26.2, H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red body, white engobe, slip painting in olive green in
imitation of monochrome luster, colorless glaze. Base
slightly concave. Decoration: ovoid panels in reserve
around the wall, each one containing an "inscription"
neatly drawn upon a base line. A similar "inscription"
crosses the bottom. Such simulated writing, common in
the Nishapur opaque white vessels decorated in green
and black (10-20), and also found in the black on white
ware (Group 3, 50) and the polychrome on white (Group
4, 39), does not occur on lustered pottery. The exterior
decoration (41b), contrary to the case in 40, is markedly
inferior in drawing to that of the interior. Not really imi-
tating designs seen on luster ware, it consists of a circle
filled with simple spots alternating with a V containing
a vertical stroke. Place of manufacture uncertain, even
though the ovoid panels and general simplicity of the
design suggest eastern Iran or Transoxiana.
40 a,b BOWL
D 33.5, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
An imitation of monochrome luster ware probably made
in Transoxiana. Reddish body, white engobe, decoration
in olive green slip, colorless glaze. The slip painting yel-
lows the glaze in its vicinity. Certain motifs and details
are reproduced from the luster ware models, but this is
by no means a slavish copy. The division of the interior
design into boldly drawn circles and bands is a character-
istic of Transoxiana and is not found in any true mono-
chrome luster ware. The birds within the circles are
42 BOWL
D 23.7, H 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.36
Red body, white engobe, decoration in thick olive green
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
191
slip in imitation of monochrome luster, colorless glaze.
Around the rim is a band shaped into four lobes with ogee
tops. Filling two of the lobes on opposite sides of the bowl
are "leaves" in pairs, their tips having pointed extensions
that reach to the center of the bowl. The triangular space
within the figure is filled by a curling stem ending in a
three-pointed leaf. The other two lobes contain a radial
inscription, the word barakeh (blessing), with a distinctive
dotted circle added on the final letter (compare 43).
The leaflike forms are related to those of tenth-century
gold-lustered pieces found in Egypt, one of which is in
the Metropolitan (63.16.3; Grube, Metropolitan Museum
of Art Bulletin^ February, 1965, p. 214, fig. 8). For another
example see Bahgat 8c Massoul, Ceramique musulmane^
pi. V. It is probable that this type of design originated in
Iraq, where similar pieces of fine quality have been found.
A fragment of this type, probably from Iraq, found in
Nishapur, is in the Metropolitan (40.170.457h). The
pieces found in Egypt have the characteristics of body
and luster indicating local manufacture. No examples of
these Egyptian pieces were found in Nishapur.
43 BOWL
D 17.5, H 5.8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.140
43 is the word barakeh (blessing), in the style seen on 42
and with the same dotted circle on the final letter, per-
haps indicating manufacture in the same shop.
44 a,b BOWL FRAGMENTS
W as^assembled 39.5 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, white engobe, painting in a yellow-staining
green in imitation of monochrome luster, colorless glaze.
Thinly turned. Around the wall, a procession of pigeons,
crested male and crestless female alternating. Drawn,
curiously enough, without feet (compare bird on 47).
They are painted solid except for their collars and tail
bands, which are left in reserve and ornamented, and their
wings, which are filled with dots and peacock eyes. At the
rim, between each pair of birds, is a cone shape, painted
solid, a device that occasionally appears in true mono-
chrome luster ware (Erdmann, Berliner Museen^ XIV,
p. 14, fig. 16). The spaces between the birds are filled
with outlined shapes containing dots. The design on the
exterior (44b), consisting of short lines and dots in com-
partments bounded by outlined biconvex forms in reserve,
was copied from imported luster ware. A similar piece
decorated with pigeons, found in Afrasiyab, has not been
published.
J
1:3
Reddish body, white engobe, olive green slip painting in
imitation of monochrome luster, colorless glaze. Base con-
cave with groove near edge. At the rim, half-moons.
Around the wall, a band of curiously stubby leaves and
an undulating stem. There is a resemblance in this band
to gold-lustered pieces found in Fustat (Bahgat Sc Mas-
soul, Ceramique musulmane, pi. c, no. 27), but the re-
semblance is not so close that direct copying can be
assumed; the leaves on the Egyptian examples, though
stubby, do not have the projecting line at the tip. This
leafy band also forms the principal decoration of bowls
discovered in recent digging at Afrasiyab (Pachos, Sovet-
skaya Arkheologiya^ 1, 1967, p. 68, fig. 4). It is notable
that the bowl from Afrasiyab has a silhouette not char-
acteristic of the bowls of Nishapur. Across the bottom of
45 FRAGMENT
H 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
An imitation of monochrome luster ware, doubtless made
either in Khurasan or Transoxiana. Decoration: a crested
bird holding a half-palmette in its beak, its tall (?) filled
with dots and peacock eyes. At the rim, a developed ver-
sion of the pattern that occurs on 2; see 2 for discussion
of this pattern. The placing of spots between the elements
of the half-palmette, as seen on 45, also occurs on gold
luster ware found in Fustat (Bahgat Sc Massoul, Cera-
mique musulmane^ pi, iii, no. 2). For a complete bowl,
undoubtedly made in Khurasan or Transoxiana, with
similar birds holding palmettes in their beaks, see Erd-
mann, Berliner Museen^ X, fig. 5 and p. 9.
46 a,b BOWL
D of bowl 36, H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.625
1:3
192
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
Red body, white engobe, painting in olive green slip in
imitation of monochrome luster ware, colorless glaze. The
slip yellows the glaze locally. Base : beveled, slightly con-
cave, turned very thin at center. Rim everted, reminiscent
:<>J
of 35. Interior decoration: four large petal-shaped com-
partments filled with Kufic inscriptions, the spaces be-
tween the compartments filled with leaflike forms. Three
words appear in the compartments ; starting at the bottom :
haralieh (blessing), we yumn (and happiness), and an un-
deciphered word at the top. The style of writing, with
its heavily foliated tops, is not peculiar to imitation luster
pieces ; it also occurs, a little less elaborately, in the black
on white ware (Group 3, 63). The decoration between
the compartments is closely related to that found on true
monochrome luster ware, particularly in the pairs of
links between the leaves. A less exaggerated version
occurs on a tenth-century luster piece found at Fustat,
a fragment of which is in the Metropolitan (08.256.342).
The decoration on the exterior of 46, a band of herring-
bone and loosely drawn pear shapes, is not found on true
luster ware. It is an invention of Khurasan or Transoxiana.
47 BOWL (some restoration)
D 21.4, H 7.4 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.205
Pale grayish yellow body, white engobe, painting in
greenish slip in imitation of monochrome luster. The slip.
containing chrome, locally yellows the glaze, which is
slightly opaque. Base slightly concave. The major element
of the decoration is a bird with a remarkably small head. It
resembles others in this green-slip-painted ware in that its
wing is filled with dots and peacock eyes (40, 45), in that
1:3
1:3
it lacks feet (44), and in that it holds a half-palmette in
its beak (45, 48). A carefree treatment of the half-palmette
is also seen in ware decorated with yellow-staining black
(Group 8, 29). A link to still another Nishapur ware is to
be seen in the drawing of the two animal heads, one of
which has a half-palmette in place of horns ; similar ani-
mals occur in the buff ware. The rim decoration consists
of half-moons supplemented by contour lines. On the
exterior, halfway down, are some splashes of greenish
slip and at the bottom some rough strokes of slip. Made
in Khurasan or Transoxiana.
48 FRAGMENT
W 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.540
A portion of this fragment is in Teheran. Red body,
white engobe, drawing in greenish brown in imitation of
monochrome luster. Glaze disintegrated. Decoration:
birds and animals, with outlined compartments contain-
ing dots and peacock eyes filling background. The birds
hold half-leaves in their beaks. The one seen at the right,
resembling the bird on 45, holds a half-leaf with a circu-
lar detail on a stem, a device of the tenth century. The
bird at the upper left wears a collar; from this there
descends a curved band in reserve, ending in a leaflike
bifurcation. Similar bands decorate the bodies of many
birds and animals in the buff ware. The small crosses that
decorate the body of the animal constitute another link
with the buff ware (compare Group 1, 77, 79). In view of
these associations, 48 may have been made in Nishapur.
Otherwise, probably Merv or Afrasiyab.
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
193
49 a^b BOWL (restored)
D 24, H 8.2 cm ; Falaki
MMA 38.40.228
Imitation bichrome luster ware. Reddish body, white
engobe, colorless glaze. Base slightly concave, with two
concentric narrow grooves. Some glaze on base. Drawing
in brown slip with added staining in brownish yellow.
Around the wall, compartments of irregular shape, formed
by outlined bands that are either straight or triple curved,
recalling one of the treatments in the buff ware (Group 1,
41). The bottom is divided into four compartments by
means of one straight and two curved bands. Half the
compartments are filled with a pattern of thin curling
lines supplemented by spots and V-shaped ^^leaves," a
pattern frequently encountered in the buff ware (Group
1, 30, 41-44, 46). The alternate compartments on 49,
filled with dots and peacock eyes, are the areas that are
stained brownish yellow. The exterior (49b) is decorated
with ovals containing vertical lines, alternating with a
vertical line. A variation of this pattern occurs on a closely
related opaque white ware bowl from Nishapur, perhaps
made in the same pottery, in the Metropolitan (63.159.1;
Grube, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ February,
1965, p. 212, figs. 5, 6). Probably made in Nishapur, 49
is of the tenth century. Similarities in drawing and the
use of the same filling patterns suggest that 50 and 51
are from the same pottery.
50 BOWL (restored)
D 20.5, H 6.2 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MMA 38.40.135
(Color Plate 8, page xix)
Imitation bichrome luster ware. Reddish body, white
engobe, colorless glaze. The engobe and glaze cover the
entire piece, including the base. The exterior is undec-
orated. The bowl has a flat rim, exceptional in the copies
of bichrome luster ware found in Nishapur. Base slightly
concave. Drawing in brown slip, with added staining in
brownish yellow. Alef-Yiikt radii divide the decoration into
quadrants. These in turn are divided by bands with a
double curve (compare triple-curved bands on 49), Even
more than 49, the present bowl recalls some of the buff
ware (Group 1, 41, 42). Around the rim is a pattern of
half-moons with added strokes. This pattern, a version
of the rim decorations on such bowls as 2 and 45, is also
to be seen on the related Nishapur bowl cited at 49. 50 is
probably from the same pottery as 49 and 51.
51 BOWL (restored)
D 26, H 8 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Imitation bichrome luster ware. Reddish body, white
engobe, colorless glaze. Drawing in brown slip, added
staining in brownish yellow. The design is composed of
compartments of many shapes. Similarities in the drawing
and the use of the same filling patterns (curling lines and
leaves, and peacock eyes and dots) make it likely that this
bowl and 49 and 50 were made in the same pottery. On
two opposite sides a roughly circular compartment con-
tains a bird. It resembles birds in the black on white ware
in that it has pairs of projecting spots on its wings and
body. (For an explanation of these spots, see Group 3,
66). Adjoining the compartment with the bird is a tri-
angular compartment containing a plantlike motif of
three leaves. Similar leaves in a similar placement occur
on a brown and luster bowl found in Samarra (Sarre, Die
Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xiii, no. 2), a bowl dated by
Kiihnel to about 870 {Ars Islamica^ I, p. 154, fig. 4).
A related bowl in the Metropolitan (63.159.1), referred
to at 49 for its exterior decoration, offers variations of
51's interior design. A band of pseudo inscription is
placed across the bottom, the birds (six, rather than two,
and drawn with spiky feathers) are enclosed in triangular
spaces, and the three-leaved plant forms, also six in
number, appear in an elongated, more pointed version,
the leaves resembling arrowheads.
196
10
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
203
204
Opaque White Ware and Its Imitations
7
Opaque Yellow Ware
A- ware with an opaque yellow glaze, produced by the
application of a yellow engobe, was made and used in
Nishapur during the ninth and tenth centuries, after
which its manufacture appears to have died out. The
decoration of the ware is almost invariably in green. The
reddish body is similar to that of the color-splashed, black
on white, and polychrome on white wares as made in
Nishapur. Tin is an important ingredient of the engobe,
and it is this element that causes the opacity of the lead
glaze that covers it. The opacity of the yellow engobe
varies considerably, depending on how densely it was
applied. The green spots, strokes, and splashes of the
decoration were probably applied after the glaze was
poured. Produced by a copper base, the green for some
reason tended to disintegrate before the rest of the glazed
surface. A similar disintegration of green is also common
in Chinese ceramics (A. L. Hetherington, Chinese Ceramic
Glazes, South Pasadena, Calif., 1948, pp. 56, 57). When
the glaze of the Nishapur ware has disintegrated, a com-
mon condition, the yellow pigment is left as a powdery
layer the color of dry English mustard. Today in Nisha-
pur a coarse ware is made that resembles the ninth- and
tenth-century product, dijffering from it in that black is
included in the decoration and that the yellow does not
cover the entire surface (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum
of Art Bulletin, November, 1961, p. 115, fig. 27).
The opaque yellow ware did not originate in Nishapur.
It is hkely that it first developed in Iraq, as an Islamic
imitation of imported Chinese pieces. The ware has been
found at Ctesiphon (fragment in the Metropolitan,
32.150.318) and Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Sa-
marra, pi. xxxi and p. 70, no. 247). The quality of the
ware found in Ctesiphon and Samarra is superior to that
of Nishapur — the body harder, less coarse, the potting
thinner, the color a more golden yellow, free of the green-
ish cast characteristic of Nishapur. The ware was likewise
made, probably also in imitation, in Syria, both at Tarsus
(Day, Asia^ March, 1941, pp. 143-148) and at Al-Mina
(Lane, Archaeologia, LXXXVII, p. 39). It has been found,
too, in Dahran, Arabia. A study piece in the MetropoHtan
from Dahran shows that some of this ware, which was
probably imported from Iraq, was of high quahty, its
smooth red body turned thin, its glaze a good yellow.
The ware was popular in Nishapur, and a considerable
variety of shape is found in it. The potting tends to be
coarse; there are no deHcately turned bowls, as there are,
for instance, in the polychrome on white ware. Some of
the bowls have incurved rims, some outcurved. None are
of large size. Some are deeper than any of the buflF ware
bowls — the other kind of Nishapur pottery that was pop-
ular for rather thickly turned vessels. Others are so shallow
that they may be considered dishes. Lamps and pitchers
were also made in this ware. Small jars were sometimes
provided with curved lugs on the sides, but these were
1:3
decorative rather than functional, conforming to a fashion
seen in the ninth- and tenth-century opaque white ware
of both Nishapur (Group 6, 26) and Samarra (Sarre, Die
Keramik von Samarra, p. 49, fig. 119; Medieval Near
Eastern Ceramics, figs. 2, 3). Handled cups with crinkly
edges were not unknown ; the drawing shows a fragment
of one in poor condition (study piece) in the MetropoHtan :
1:3
205
206
Opaque Yellow Ware
This particular shape would seem to carry on a tradition
in the eastern regions that is exemplified in both metal-
work and ceramics of an earlier date (Marshak, Trudy ^ V,
p. 188, pi. 7). Vessels of this shape were not common in
Iran until the twelfth or thirteenth century, when the
crinkled rim became fashionable in alkaline-glazed wares.
In copying the opaque yellow ware of Iraq the Nishapur
potters did not have to make substitutions in the color
scheme, as they did, for example, in the opaque white
ware. The copper base needed for the green was readily
obtained. The decoration is usually of the simplest kind
and more formal than it is on the models from Iraq. A
feature of this ware, and of no other, is a repeated circular
cluster of small spots, all of the same size (1-4). This
motif seems to have been especially favored in the Nisha-
pur ware. A bowl found in Samarra, decorated with a
single cluster of green spots, was considered by Sarre to
be ^^under East Asiatic influence" (Sarre, Die Keramik
von Samarra^ p. 72, fig. 157). The clusters of spots are
usually supplemented, commonly by a line of Kufic or
simulated Kufic. The word is usually barely recognizable
as barakeh (blessing). A feature of these inscriptions is the
addition of a decorative V, usually bisected by a short
vertical stroke, forming a plantlike or arrowlike motif
(2-4). Not always made a part of the inscription, the
motif may appear independently (l), scattered on the
background (2), or combined with other ornament (7). It
also occurs in the opaque white ware made in Nishapur
(Group 6, 10, 15).
In the present ware the inscriptions and pseudo in-
scriptions are frequently arranged radially; the circum-
scribing bands of script that adorn so many black on
white bowls are not to be seen. Radial inscriptions occur
in only two other wares of Nishapur, the black on white
and the opaque white. In the latter the inscriptions are
usually supplemented by splashes of green at the rim ; in
the present ware the inscriptions are usually secondary in
interest to the clusters of spots. Stylistic resemblances in
the scripts themselves, as well as in the use of tin in the
glazes of both wares, suggest that the potters who made
opaque white ware in Nishapur may also have made the
present ware. Urdike certain potters of the black on white
ware, who were able to write legible Arabic, the potters
who decorated the yellow ware evidently knew only the
general appearance of the written language. The same
was probably true of many of the people who bought
the ware, and it is quite hkely that they considered an
approximation of such a word as ^^blessing" suflicient for
its beneficent efi'ect.
Attention may be called to a few exceptional pieces in
this group. One, represented by fragments in the Metro-
pohtan (40.170.539) and not illustrated here, is a shallow,
vertical-sided bowl with a pale yellowish body; it would
seem that its decoration consisted of very freely drawn
palmettes, alternately upright and inverted. Datable to
the ninth century, the piece was probably imported from
Iraq. A subgroup, represented by 14 and 17, is included
on the basis of color — a transparent bright yellow over a
white engobe, with decoration in green and occasionally
with black also. Strictly, these are examples of poly-
chrome on white ware, although unusual ones. Because
of their rarity, it is uncertain whether they were made
locally. A decorative link with the bufi* ware may be seen
in a buflf ware fragment included here (6), on which the
whole background is yeUow, rather in the manner of the
present ware.
1 DISH
D 19.5, H 4.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Base slightly concave. Junction of wall and bottom marked
by a slight vertical collar, a feature of some early pottery
from Nishapur but more common in ninth -century glazed
earthenware of Iraq. Exterior glazed but undecorated.
Decoration on interior, green on a strong yellow ground,
consists of five circular clusters of spots, one on the bot-
tom, four on the wall, the latter alternating with a treelike
motif composed of three chevrons topped by a vertical
stroke; a line of spots at the rim.
Among other examples of shallow bowls, one was found
with a wide sloping rim above the bowl itself; it was deco-
rated simply with green spots:
1:3
opaque Yellow Ware
207
2 BOWL
D 19.5, H 5.8 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
1:3
Exterior glazed but undecorated. Junction of wall and
bottom marked by a slight vertical collar (compare 1).
Decoration: five clusters of spots, as on 1, those on the
wall alternating with a radial pseudo inscription: a kaf-
like letter, reversed and adorned with a superimposed V.
Additional V's, made into a plantlike motif with a vertical
center stroke, fill the spaces around the wall. At the rim,
a line of spots. The reversed kaj\ if such it be, is common
in inscriptions in two other Nishapur wares, the buff
(Group 1, 63) and the opaque white (Group 6, 11, 13), in
both of which it appears without the added V. The plant-
like motif on the wall was used extensively on the exterior
of a polychrome luster bowl found in Rayy (Pezard,
Ceramique^ pi. cxxxi, upper).
The bases of these bowls with flaring rims show several
variations, probably all local: a bevel (2), a groove, or a
properly made foot ring:
1:3
1:3
3 a,b BOWL
D 18, H 8.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.90
Base has a groove near the circumference eight millime-
ters wide. Such a groove also occurs in the buff ware of
Nishapur. The glaze is considerably disintegrated, as is
often the case in this ware. Decoration: three clusters of
spots and three radial pseudo inscriptions. The verticals
are furnished with added slanting strokes, in the fashion
also to be seen in the opaque white ware made in Nishapur
(Group 6, 10, 15, 18). A decorative V, placed above what
may be the letter kaf\ which is reversed, has an added
center stroke, giving it a plantlike appearance. This motif,
somewhat more resembling a fleur-de-lis, is found over the
letter sad on an opaque white dish with an inscription in
green found in Bibi Zubaida at Rayy and attributed to the
ninth century {Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts,
August, 1935, p. 57, fig. 5). Used similarly, it is found on
monochrome luster ware of the tenth century (Pezard,
Ceramique^ pi. cxxvii, lower left; Flury, Syria^ V, p. 306,
fig. 1 ; Pope, Survey^ V, pi. 575 A; Kiihnel, Ars Islamica^ I,
p. 156, fig. 7). The rim of 3 is decorated with large spots.
The threefold appearance of a circular cluster of spots is
less common than a fourfold. Other bowls of approximately
this shape were decorated with only a single cluster of
rather large green spots on the bottom. Some bowls
shaped generally like 3 but potted thicker were provided
with a rim beveled on the inside :
1:3
4 a,b BOWL
D 17.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.52
Base strongly concave. Low sides, incurving rim. Almost
no engobe, so that little yellow colors the almost trans-
parent glaze and the brownish color of the clay shows
through. Decoration on interior: four clusters of spots
and four radial pseudo inscriptions, loosely drawn; a line
of spots at the rim. On the exterior : large blobs of green
near rim. Shallow bowls of this poor color were made in
great quantity in Nishapur; similarities among them sug-
gest that they came from a single pottery. Some have a
1:3
208
Opaque Yellow Ware
1:3
flat base, and some have a concave base (drawing, above),
and some have two parallel grooves on the shoulder.
5 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 19.3 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.519a, b
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Glaze shows signs of overfiring. Decoration: lengths of
pseudo inscription placed haphazardly; spots at the rim.
Exterior: green blobs near the rim. Beneath them a nar-
row circumscribing groove. The placement of the script
seen here was less common in this ware than the radial
treatment of 2, 3, 4.
6 FRAGMENT
H 7.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.464
A specimen of buff ware, presented here to demonstrate a
relationship. In the buff ware yellow is generally used lo-
cally ; in the present ware it is used as an engobe. This buff
ware fragment is particularly close to the opaque yellow
ware in that its entire background is yellow and that spot-
ting with green obviously played an important part in its
decoration. The remainder of the pattern, a triangular
form, is outlined and crosshatched in black.
7 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 11 cm : Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.465
Exterior glazed but undecorated. Base, concave, is glazed.
Glaze is a good opaque yellow; the opacity is due to tin,
which is present in both the engobe and glaze. Decoration
is in green. The plantlike motif of a V with added center
stroke, seen in various uses on 1-4, is here the principal
decoration on bottom and wall.
8 a,b BOWL FRAGMENT
H 21.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A decoration of innumerable little green spots was planned,
but elsewhere than on the rim they ran toward the bottom
during the firing, producing a ^Turry" appearance. The
exterior (8b) is splashed with irregular blobs of green.
Like the spots, these ran.
9 DISH
D 9.4, H 4,1 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.25
1:3
Both interior and exterior are decorated with small green
spots, the effect spoiled by the disintegration of the glaze.
Blobs of green at the rim on the interior. Many such small
vessels were found, varying considerably in shape. Some
had incurved rims. The bases of some were flat, like that
of 9. Some had an added circular groove in the bottom.
1:3
The exteriors of these pieces were glazed but generally
undecorated; some of the interiors had only a central
cluster of spots. Small bowls with green spots on a yellow
ground were also found in Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik
von Samarra, p. 70, nos. 247, 248).
10 LAMP
L 10 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Decorated with a few green splashes. The handle origi-
nally consisted of two prongs. A more common type of
lamp had a loop handle.
11 LAMP
L 8.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.289
1:3
Decorated with a few green splashes on the interior. Spout
discolored by use. Smaller lamps were found, small
opaque Yellow Ware
209
enough to be considered no more than playthings, but
even these showed signs of burning.
such pieces were found. A fragment of one is in the Te-
heran museum.
12 DISH
D 18.2, H 6.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.5
Poorly made, with flat base. Because the glaze contains
only a little yellow, the color of the clay shows through
unpleasantly. Decoration: random green strokes. Many
such dishes were found, all with flat bases: kitchenware
or ware for the poor.
15 PITCHER
H 21.8 cm : Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The opaque yellow glaze was originally covered with green
splashes in the manner of 16. The overall shape as well as
the wavy bands combed on the projecting collars are
characteristic of ninth-century unglazed pitchers of Nish-
apur (Group 12, 14).
13 PITCHER FRAGMENT
H 10.9 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Intense opaque yellow glaze with green splashes. Many
small pitchers and jars thus decorated were found; the
drawing is of one such with handle missing. Pitchers of
16
1:3
similar shape, made in the ninth century, were also left
undecorated and unglazed (Group 12, 33).
14 BOWL
D 21.4, H 6.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.108
Actually an example of polychrome on white ware, with
splashes of green and central spots and rim line of brown-
ish black applied on a white engobe, glazed clear yellow
with glaze derived from chrome. The green denotes the
presence of copper oxide, applied locally. It is introduced
here because the decoration closely resembles that of the
opaque yellow ware and is unlike that of any of the rest of
the polychrome on white. The base, slightly concave, is
beveled. Fired inverted, stacked on a stilt over another
inverted bowl. Place of manufacture uncertain. Very few
PITCHER
H 22 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.114
1:3
Reminiscent, like 15, of ninth -century unglazed pitchers.
Green splashes on yellow glaze. The glaze has obliterated
a combed decoration on the projecting collar. Base, con-
cave, has two shallow concentric rings.
17 PITCHER
H 21.5 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Like 14, an example of polychrome on white ware, the
clear yellow glaze applied on a white engobe. Clear green
splashes on the glaze. Two grooves encircle the shoulder.
The top of the pitcher is bent up in such a way as to sug-
gest vaguely a bird's head, an uncommon feature in the
pottery of Nishapur. Place of manufacture uncertain.
8
Ware with Yellow-
staining Black
number of vessels found in Nishapur with decoration
in black on a white engobe form a separate group for the
reason that they have a distinctive yellowish glaze. Such
pieces, ascribed to Rayy in Pezard, Ceramique (pi. cxiii,
top), are probably from Nishapur. The color, which is
not uniform overall, cannot be considered an uninten-
tional tinting due to lack of care in the preparation of a
"colorless" lead glaze, as is sometimes the case with
crudely made yellowish or greenish black on white pieces.
The color on the present pieces, varying from clear pale
lemon to a transparent full yellow of considerable strength,
is strongest in the vicinity of a black pigment that tends to
separate into specks, especially when it is lightly appHed.
Experiments made for the Metropolitan by the late Maude
Robinson, a skilled potter, showed that it is possible to
duplicate the effect by introducing oxide of chromium
into a black.
Staining eflFects occur in other Nishapur wares. An
ohve green sHp that yellows the glaze in its vicinity was
used on a ware that was obviously intended to resemble
monochrome luster ware (Group 6, 40, 44); this sHp was
also used in Afrasiyab. Another pigment of this nature,
raw sienna in intrinsic color, was used in a subordinate
way on a number of polychrome on white bowls (Group
4, 44, 47). Both of these pigments were used to produce
linear patterns. Another staining pigment, used locally
in the form of blobs, is the opaque yellow of the buflF
ware; this is alUed to the yellow of the opaque yellow
ware, which was appHed as an overall color. The staining
black of the present ware is to be found in two others :
the polychrome on white (Group 4, 44, 47) and the ware
with colored engobe, in which ware a few exceptional
pieces without an engobe have the color applied locally
on bands of white sHp (Group 5, 34, 35). A few more
pieces in this ware with engobe have the color likewise
on local grounds of white (Group 5, 50, 51, 53). A few
bowls were found with a clear yellow glaze obtained from
chrome (Group 7, 14), but in these the color does not
come from the use of a staining black.
The natural clay body of the present ware, firing red-
dish or occasionally near buff, is in general not distin-
guishable from the body used in the color-splashed, black
on white, or polychrome on white ware. Although the
shapes of the vessels are on the whole similar to those of
the black on white ware — ^in particular, a bowl with
straight flaring sides — a few are uncommon in that ware :
notably a bowl with incurving rim — or absent altogether,
as a deep bowl with nearly vertical sides. Conversely,
some of the shapes in the black on white ware, such as a
circular platter with a shallow well, do not occur in the
present ware. The ware decorated with yellow-staining
black, in light of this, cannot be considered a byproduct
of the potters who made the black on white ware.
Although many of the present vessels are well turned,
none have a true foot, such as occurs in the polychrome
on white group. The engobe in most cases covers the
entire vessel, including the base, although on a few pieces
it extends only a httle way down on the exterior. After the
application of decoration to the engobe, the pieces were
covered with a very glossy lead glaze. When well pre-
served, this has a sHght soap-bubble iridescence. The
glaze sometimes spalls, a defect common in other Nisha-
pur wares that have an engobe thickly appHed.
With its lemon yellow or sHghtly golden tones, the
present ware may perhaps suggest monochrome luster
ware, especially as there are occasional resemblances in
the designs, particularly in the inclusion of birds and
such details as peacock eyes. However, the emphasis on
black makes it clear that the potter did not use his yellow-
staining pigment in imitation of a ware that he could not
make. (Black, of course, does not appear in any true early
Islamic luster ware.) In conjunction with his staining
black the potter often used an ordinary black, such as is
common in the black on white ware. It is usually a strong
213
214
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
color, without any tinge of purple at the edge, and it is
usually appUed thickly. When the two blacks are used,
the principal Hues of the design are in the stronger, more
stable color, the details in the staining black (Color Plate
9, page xx). The combination makes for a less stark ef-
fect than one finds in the black on white ware. In a few
pieces (23) minor details are painted in red sHp.
The ware has been found in places other than Nisha-
pur, namely Gurgan (the Metropolitan's sherd collection),
Transoxiana (unpubhshed), and Shahr-i-Daqianus (Stein,
Archaeological Reconnaissances, pi. xxi, nos. 571, 652).
These sites are either in the eastern part of Iran or still
further east. With the exception of a bowl attributed to
Rayy (identified in the discussion of 14), the ware has not
been found in the western half of Iran. No kilns or wast-
ers confirm the manufacture of the ware in Nishapur, but
the considerable amount of the ware discovered there al-
lows us to assume that at least some of it was locally made.
The place of origin of any imports must be sought in
Gurgan or Transoxiana. The evidence in regard to Afra-
siyab is inconclusive in that no sherds of the ware are in
the collection in the Islamisches Museum, BerHn.
As to when the ware was first used in Nishapur, the
evidence of the excavations is precise. Since no trace of it
was found in the levels that were indubitably of the ear-
liest period, it may be said that the ware was unknown in
Nishapur before the tenth century, more particularly the
latter part of it. Its manufacture probably extended
through the eleventh century.
As well as in its color, the ware is distinctive in its dec-
orations. These are so characteristic that even though
some of the individual motifs occur in other wares of
Nishapur, it is usually possible to identify an example of
the ware from nothing more than a black-and-white pho-
tograph. As a general principle, excepting a few vessels
with crude, simple designs, the decoration does not cover
the entire inside surface. It is either placed near the rim,
typically in some sort of band, or it occupies selected
areas elsewhere. In either case a considerable amount of
the surface is left undecorated, a restraint found also in
the black on white ware. One of the commonest features
on the yellow-tinted bowls, one of the few that is also
common on the black on white ware, is a sawtooth rim
border, painted either continuously or in hmited lengths.
This may be painted in the ordinary nonstaining black or
in the staining black. The sawtooth often has a hairhne
added beneath it (l, 3, 14, 19, 26). In some cases the rim
is decorated with half-moons (9, 10, 12, 21, 29). Half-
moon borders do not appear in the black on white ware
of Nishapur, but they are to be seen in the imitation luster
ware (Group 6, 2). Most of the yellow- tinted bowls with
this border have inscriptions with outUned compartments
between the letters. Another feature in the present ware
is an outlined compartment filled with spots and peacock
eyes — the center dot sometimes omitted — painted in
yellow-staining black. Irregular in shape, such compart-
ments occupy the spaces that occur between the vertical
letters or pseudo letters of Kufic inscriptions. The earli-
est known use of such compartments filHng contours
around letters is dated 955 (Rice, The Unique Ibn al-
Bawwab Manuscript in the Chester Beatty Library^ pi. viia).
In the yellow- tinted ware the inscriptions themselves are
always painted in the soHd nonstaining black. Similar
compartments occur in a subgroup of the inanimate group
of buff ware, where they fill spaces created by fohating
bands (Group 1, 38); associated with inscriptions, they
appear in the polychrome on white ware (Group 4, l), the
opaque white ware imitating luster ware (Group 6, 51),
and the ware with blackish engobe decorated in white
sHp beneath a greenish glaze (Group 5, 8). Compartments
of another type appear in the yellow-stained ware, their
filHng consisting of irregular curls, spots, and small circles
(9, lO). This type, which has no exact parallel in the other
wares just mentioned, closely resembles a form to be seen
on lustered pottery of Egypt at the beginning of the
eleventh century (Bahgat 8c Massoul, Ceramique musul-
mane, pis. xiv, no. 2, xxvi, no. 2, xxvn, no. 1 ; Lane, Early
Islamic Pottery^ pi. 23B). The curls that fill such compart-
ments are perhaps reflected in the subsidiary decoration
of an atypical bufifware bowl (Group 1, 47). Inscriptions
form the major decoration on a number of the vessels, but
the emphasis appears to be less on the meaning than on the
decoration (9-12). Although the lettering itself resembles
that on other wares, there is no equivalent here to the
saws and proverbs that appear on the black on white
bowls. Instead, letters suggesting benedictory words are
repeated to form a band of decoration, A cursive inscrip-
tion, the only one on this or any other Nishapur ware,
was found on a bowl fragment (31). It may be said that
the style of the inscriptions on the yellow-tinted bowls
does not duplicate many of the forms of lettering seen on
the black on white ware, the polychrome on white, or the
shp-painted ware with colored engobe. Contrariwise, a
strange scribble, the ultimate debasement of Kufic script,
is one of the commonest features of this ware. The motif
consists of a small circle, usually containing a dot, flanked
on either side by vertical strokes equal in length to the
diameter of the circles. The intention may have been to
produce something that looked like Arabic, and the deri-
vation may have been from the word alyumn (happiness),
which figures so often in Islamic pottery of the late tenth
to the twelfth century in eastern Iran and Transoxiana.
However, in mutations such as this, the closest resem-
blance may not be the correct one. The significant thing
is that the motif, even if it was accepted by the ignorant
of the tenth and eleventh centuries as meaningful writing,
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
215
is simply a decorative device. As such it is usually placed
in narrow bands, sometimes continuous (6, 28), some-
times limited (l, 8). It is also used to fill outlined areas
(l, 3, 8). Repeated in very short lengths, it fills circum-
scribing bands or radial bands (15-18). Sometimes it fills
background areas (14, 19). With the exception of an occa-
sional use on an atypical piece in another ware (Group 5,
34) the motif is confined to the present ware. It seems to
have been used only in Khurasan and Gurgan, Only stray
pieces have been found elsewhere, such as a bowl, already
mentioned, said to have been discovered at Rayy. In a
related form of this motif, the dotted circle is replaced by
a whorl.
A repetitive addition resembhng a haf may be placed
immediately beneath a sawtooth rim decoration (32). This
same fragment and 8 illustrate the use in the present ware
of a hne with very short strokes added to it on one side,
giving a resemblance to miniature writing. For examples
of this miniature script in the polychrome on white ware,
see Group 4, 39, 40. Another characteristic motif in the
present ware is a group of almost circular loops or "scales,"
each containing a dot (15-18, 32); these are attached to
other decorative features such as circles and bands. Black
spots may be used in groups of three (16) or four (6),
generally connected by fine fines; occasionally, vdthout
connecting fines, they may constitute an entire decora-
tion (27).
The human form in its entirety does not appear in the
yellow-tinted ware, but a striking decoration on a few
bowls is a representation of the female breast, treated as
a compartment filled with various ornamental details
(l, 8). Human eyes and hands, treated as disembodied
decorative units, appear in mural paintings in Nishapur
(Hauser, Upton &: Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin^ November, 1938, p. 7, fig. 5; Hauser 8c
Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ April,
1942, p. 104, fig. 28, p. 105, fig. 29), but the motif of the
breast seems peculiar to the yellow-tinted ware and, fur-
thermore, to the examples found in Nishapur.
Several bowls were found on which a simpHfied, sketchy
bird occurs as a central motif (lO), a fashion fikewise seen
in the black on white ware. A few fragments of the present
ware, discovered in the excavations, are decorated with
representations of large, more or less fantastic birds. They
are usually rather crudely drawn in bold outfine (22), in
contrast to the precise, formal patterns of the nonfigura-
tive vessels. In the period since 1940 additional bowls of
this type have come to fight, allegedly and probably from
Nishapur. Most of the birds on these pieces have oddly
placed wings, not unUke those of 22. Like one or two of
the motifs mentioned earfier, such birds indicate some
connection with the designs on the ware with colored
engobe (Group 5, 5).
Animals also appear on this ware, even more crudely
drawn than the birds. Although only one or two examples
were found in the excavations, and they of the most frag-
mentary nature, others have since appeared on the market
reputedly from Nishapur. The drawing is of a represen-
tation of a cheetahfike creature on one of the excavated
1:2
fragments. A pecuharity of vessels so decorated is that
the animal — there is always only one — forms the sole dec-
oration; the compartments that accompany the birds do
not appear. The bowls with animals are probably of later
date than those decorated with birds; it is unHkely that
they were made until near the end of the eleventh cen-
tury. An excellent example ascribed to Nishapur and
decorated with a cheetah or leopard was once in the Ma-
tossian collection {Exposition d^art musulman Catalogue,
pi. vn). Noteworthy is the treatment of the beast's eye and
brow, both of which are boldly prolonged to the rear by
means of hues, Uke the eyes and brows of a rider and his
horse on a Nishapur bufi" ware bowl (Group 1, 62). A re-
lated bowl in the Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, is
decorated with a cruder leopard, his feet resembfing
spotted bags {Ceramic Art of Iran Exhibition Catalogue,
no. 59).
216
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
1 a,b BOWL
D 22, H 9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body, white engobe, nearly colorless glaze. Where
affected by the black of the decoration, which contains
chrome, the glaze is yellow. The base, concave, has a bevel.
The wall flares widely for about two-thirds of its height,
then becomes nearly vertical. The rim is painted with a
black line; this has spalled in places. Touching this line
on the interior is a sawtooth; beneath this the bowl is
encircled by a heavy black line between two hairlines
(compare treatment on 3, 14, 19). The principal deco-
ration consists of two representations of a female breast,
their thin outline reinforced by a heavy line. Each breast
contains a band and an elliptical form filled with an orna-
ment of short vertical lines alternating with a dotted circle.
This motif, essentially derived from Kufic writing, is much
in evidence in the present ware. To a lesser extent it ap-
pears in the slip-painted ware with colored engobe, where
it is also painted in yellow-staining black (Group 5, 34).
Between the breasts are two leaflike forms containing a
spiral at the lower end. Centered on the bottom of the
bowl is a heavily drawn near circle with a central spot, a
motif that also occurs in the polychrome on white ware.
The exterior (lb) is decorated with two pearlike shapes
containing a vertical stroke and two ovals filled with verti-
cal strokes. The first of these motifs recurs on 3, the sec-
ond on 13. From a location suggesting manufacture in
the late tenth century.
For another bowl in this group decorated with a breast,
see 8.
2 BOWL
D 25, H 10.3 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
Coarse reddish body, poorly turned. Base strongly con-
cave, without glaze or engobe. Flaring widely from base,
vessel has upright, incurving rim. Decoration entirely in
yellow -staining black. Exterior: a row of spots around the
rim. Interior: an encircling band, bounded top and bot-
tom by a thick line and a thin line (compare 1, 3, 14, 19)
and filled with a unit of two vertical lines alternating
with a three-looped U-like motif, resting on its side. Cen-
tered on the bottom of the bowl, an irregular circle con-
taining a spot. The looped motif in the band, derived
from Kufic writing, is a debased form of the word baraJieh
(blessing). Found frequently in the present ware (4, 5), it
also occurs in the black on white ware (Group 3, 73).
Many pieces like 2 were found. One in the Metropolitan
(38.40.134), its interior decoration like that of 2, is deco-
rated on the exterior like 3. Another in the Metropolitan
(study fragment) has the pattern in purplish black within
borders of purplish black augmented by a thin line of
greenish yellow. The exterior of this fragment is covered
with engobe but is unglazed. All of these pieces, judging
by their locations, were made at the end of the tenth or
beginning of the eleventh century.
3 BOWL
D 23.2, H 9.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.288
1:3
Judging by workmanship and decoration, probably from
the same manufactory as 1. Reddish body. Base, slightly
concave, has a bevel; it is without glaze or engobe. All the
decoration is in yellow-staining black. At the rim, a saw-
tooth. Below this, placed between two heavy encircling
lines and two hairlines, are swags containing elliptical
forms filled with a row of double circles alternating with
vertical strokes. A double curve resembling a pair of U's
is added at the junctions of the swags. Centered on the
bottom is a loosely drawn bird, similar to that on 10. The
exterior is decorated on the upturned rim with a few in-
verted shapes containing a vertical stroke, one of the mo-
tifs present on the exterior of 1. Probably not earlier than
late tenth century. The swags and their fillings constitute
one of the few links between the decoration on the glazed
pottery with a natural clay body and that on the later type
of ware with a composed body and alkaline glaze (compare
Group 11, l). Another piece in the present group with
such a link is 24.
4 BOWL
D 20.5, H 7.5 cm ; near Tepe Alp ArsJan
MIB
Wall flares from base, then becomes vertical. Flat lip ex-
tends outward. Decoration, confined to the exterior and
in yellow-staining black only, consists of the same de-
based pseudo Kufic seen on 2 and 5. Everted lips occur in
this ware only on bowls as crudely decorated as this. Very
common in Nishapur were bowls decorated like 4 but
smaller in size; most of them had incurved rims. The same
decoration occurs in the black on white ware (Group 3,
73), and in this particular group one cannot always be
sure, when looking at black-and-white photographs, which
of the two wares is being illustrated.
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
5 BOWL
D 18.5, H 6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
217
or tenth century (K. Weitzmann in Aus der Welt der
Islamischen Kunst, p. 311). The probable origin is that
of four joined grape leaves, which persisted as such in
early Islamic green-glazed molded ware. For an example
from Susa : Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 4F.
1:3
Widely flaring wall, vertical rim. Decoration, in yellow-
staining black only, consists of the simulated writing seen
on 2 and 4, here treated as a cross. Not earlier than late
tenth century. Similar bowls were found. On one the cross
had only four of the U-like forms, on another a single band
of the decoration crossed the bowl. On still another, found
in Sabz Pushan, now in the Teheran museum, a single
U-shaped form was placed on either side of a single band
of the U-element. The U-shape, with double outlines, is
merely a distortion of the form seen on 5. It is to be noted
that the latter example is drawn in nonstaining black. In
other words, this is one of the few forms of design that is
common to two of our groups — black on white ware as well.
6 BOWL (minor restoration)
D 21, H 6.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.113
Reddish body. The base, slightly concave and beveled, is
covered with engobe and has a few specks of glaze. The
exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is undecorated.
The rim has a line and sawtooth painted in ordinary black.
The black of the rest of the decoration, heavily charged
with chrome, stains the glaze a strong yellow. Beneath the
sawtooth is a band of the pseudo writing seen on 1. Half-
way down the wall is a band of pseudo Kufic, its ^'letters"
consisting of a pair of vertical strokes decorated with
dotted half-circles and a ^a/-like form with a circled and
dotted finial. On the bottom four black spots are joined by
close parallel lines to make a cross. Crosslike forms are not
rare in the present ware (see 15-18), but as they are not
of the customary Nestorian shape (unlike the case in the
buff ware), it is doubtful whether they have any religious
significance. The drawing is of a similar bowl found in the
1:3
Qanat Tepe. A closely related form of the central cross
appears in a Greek and Arabic text from Sinai of the ninth
7 BOWL (restored)
D 25, H 6.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.148
Reddish body. Base missing. Exterior, covered with en-
gobe and glaze, is without decoration. Interior decorated
entirely in yellow-staining black; the photograph, made
with a color filter, gives some indication of the staining.
On opposite sides at the rim are two lengths of sawtooth
and subjoined bands of the pseudo writing discussed at 1.
In this version the vertical strokes are more numerous. A
few bristlelike strokes project downward from the base
line. The two bands are closed at the ends, giving them a
precise, limited length and neat appearance reminiscent
of the ^^labels" at the rims of many black on white ware
bowls. Between the bands are radial lengths of an orna-
mented guilloche; these lengths may or may not have
been one, crossing the vessel from rim to rim.
8 BOWL
D 22, H 10.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.7
1:3
Buff body. Base, beveled, is without engobe but has an
accidental splash of glaze. Exterior, covered with engobe
and glaze, is without decoration. Interior: a large motif in
the form of a female breast (compare l), doubtless dupli-
cated on the missing opposite wall. The motif is edged
with a sawtooth at the rim and filled with rows of the
pseudo writing discussed at 1. In this version the dotted
circles have become whorls. Beneath the breast, instead
of the nipple seen on 1, there is a series of short, bent
lines. Crossing the center of the bowl, rim to rim, is a line
with added strokes on one side, probably a version of the
miniature pseudo Kufic seen in both the black on white
218
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
ware (Group 3, 41) and the polychrome on white (Group
4, 39). For the use of this Hne on another bowl of the pres-
ent ware, see 32. The decoration of 8 includes small tri-
angles at the rim; undoubtedly these once numbered four.
The treatment of the breast as a decorative device is
seen even more fantastically developed on a bowl, un-
doubtedly from Nishapur, that was recently on the market :
9 BOWL (base missing)
D 18.5, H 11 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MM A 39.40.11
(Color Plate 9, page xx)
Red body. The interior, covered with engobe, is decorated
with a ring of six circular blobs of pale yellow, about four
and one-half centimeters in diameter. On the rim is a black
line; on the exterior this becomes a series of half-moons.
The principal decoration, painted like the rim in ordinary
black, consists of an ornamental Kufic inscription contain-
ing the v^oid yumn (happiness) preceded by two vertical
letters, to each of which an elaborate half-palmette is added
at the left bottom. The vertical letters probably represent
the alef and lam of the definite article. The inscription is
repeated once. Between the repetitions is a leafy curling
form (visible at the right in the halftone illustration), at
either side of which occurs an extra repetition of the alef-
like letter. The arbitrary duplication of signs for purposes
of symmetry also occurs on polychrome on white bowls
made at the end of the tenth century and beginning of the
eleventh (Group 4, 13, 17), The central element of the
leaf-palmettes of the letters on 9, a more or less circular
form on a short stem resembling a berry, is also to be seen
in the black on white ware (Group 3, 22). The spaces be-
tween the letters on 9 are filled with compartments that
roughly follow the shapes of the letters and their orna-
ments. The compartments and their filling of loose circles
and curves are drawn in yellow-staining black. For a dis-
cussion of this type of filling see 10, where the drawing is
neater. Probably end of tenth century.
10 ajb BOWL
D 18.5, H 5.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red body. Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is
undecorated. At the rim, half-moons in nonstaining black.
Around the wall, in the same black, a repeated Kufic
"inscription," probably derived from the word barakeh
(blessing). The style is mannered in that the vertical let-
ters diminish in height as they progress. Their tops have
almost circular additions instead of the more customary
triangular projections (ll) or foliations (9). Filling the
spaces of the inscriptions are compartments, painted in
yellow-staining black, that follow the shapes of the ad-
jacent letters (compare 9). These forms, filled with small
scrolls and curved lines, are related to those that appear
in Fatimid luster bowls at the beginning of the eleventh
century (Bahgat 8c Massoul, Ceramique musulmane, pis.
XIV, no. 2, XXVI, no. 2, xxvii, no. 1 ; Lane, Early Islamic
Pottery^ pi. 23B). This does not necessarily imply a close
connection between the potters of Egypt and Nishapur;
rather, it illustrates the universality of certain motifs and
modes of treatment. For a ninth-century version of the
compartment, Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939, II, pi.
xcvii, top left. A related version occurs in the Nishapur
buff ware (Group 1, 47). The decoration of the present
piece includes a stylized bird drawn in nonstaining black.
Such birds in their many variations are a common feature
on Nishapur black on white bowls. Probably late tenth
century.
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
219
11 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 19.2 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Red body. The shape, with shallow upturned rim, is also
to be seen in the color-splashed ware (Group 2, 51) and
the polychrome on white (Group 4, 32). Decoration: a
black rim line and an "inscription," related to that of 10,
painted in ordinary black, with compartments in yellow-
staining black. The letters are of somewhat different form,
having projecting spurs near their tops rather than the
circular additions of 10. The compartments, filled with
dots, contain peacock eyes that lack the central dot. This
feature of "blind" peacock eyes also occurs in the slip-
painted ware with colored engobe (Group 5, 8).
12 BOWL (base missing)
D 24.7, H 6.3 (approx.) cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.10
Red body. Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is
undecorated. Interior: a crude version of 10 and 11, with
half-moons at the rim, a poorly drawn pseudo inscription,
and dotted compartments containing peacock eyes. The
disposition of the two blacks is the same as on the preced-
ing pieces. The inscription is in some places an almost
transparent brown, showing that the pigment contains lit-
tle manganese and considerable iron. The piece was fired
inverted, and some of the peacock eyes have run. The
bottom may have been ornamented with a bird, circle, or
curl. Several similar bowls found in Nishapur since 1940
have at the center an alef^nd a lam^ doubtless a decadent
form of the word Allah.
13 BOWL
D 18.5, H 7.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red body. Wall flares from base, then rises nearly verti-
cally. Black line on rim. Interior painted in ordinary brown-
ish black with reserved circles. These spaces contain a
cluster of four dotted circles drawn in yellow -staining
black. The drawing of this ornament is here quite poor, as
opposed to its use in the buff ware (Group 1, 62, among
others). The exterior of 13 is decorated with ovals filled
with vertical strokes (compare 1) alternating with an in-
verted trifoliate form that seems to be a survival from ninth-
century luster ware (Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939,
II, pi. xciii, lower). Not earlier than late tenth century.
Fragments of other bowls were found as crudely deco-
1:3
rated as 13, also a fragment of a lid on which the reserved
circles were left empty — a treatment also seen in the black
on white ware (Group 3, 65). Of the same shape as 13 but
with an emphasized change of angle was a small bowl from
the Village Tepe, drawn above. It is decorated on the out-
side at the rim with simple blobs of black, the interior
decoration somewhat resembling that of 14.
14 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 15 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.504
Red body, so poorly thrown that a supplementary lump
of clay had to be added to the base. The base is partly
covered with glaze. The exterior, covered with engobe and
glaze, is undecorated. The glaze is greenish, except where
the decoration, all of which is painted in staining black,
has colored it a deep yellow. This yellow is due to the
presence of chromium in the black pigment. At the rim,
a sawtooth. Beneath this, a hairline and a broad line.
A large triangle, bounded by a broad line and a hairline,
touches the rim at its points. In the one point that survives
there is a triple curve in double outline, the center curve
surmounted by a small pyramid of horizontal strokes. In
the center of the triangle is a panel of the pseudo writing
discussed at 1, bounded on one side by a heavy line. In
the areas defined by the sides of the triangle is a heavily
outlined motif consisting of a central "teardrop" from
which two leaves project laterally, one with its serrations
upward, the other with them downward. The ground of
these side areas is filled with more of the whorl and line
pseudo writing.
A similar but better-made bowl acquired by the Metro-
politan in 1915 (15.85.1) was not then attributed to Nish-
apur, but its advent suggests that commercial digging was
practiced in Nishapur long before the site became known
in the trade. Such digging would also account for a typical
Nishapur bowl decorated with yellow-staining black that
is said to have come from Rayy (P6zard, Ceramique^ pi.
cxiii, top), although it is of course possible that this piece
was anciently imported there.
15 BOWL (base and one side restored)
D 36, H 10.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.107
One of the largest bowls of this ware found, it not only has
a wide flare but a very thin wall. Exterior undecorated. All
painting in a black that barely stains yellow. At the rim,
a sawtooth. Below this, a variation of the common pseudo
Kufic, the motif here arranged as a series of vertical strips.
A small cross instead of a dot appears in many of the cir-
cles. A smaller bowl found in the excavations, now in the
Teheran museum, has the same decoration, including the
sawtooth. Extending down the wall of 15 is a series of
"columns." Although no other bowl was found with pre-
220
Ware with Tellow-staining Black
cisely this motif, compare a similar element on a Nishapur
bowl decorated with stylized breasts, mentioned at 8. The
^^column" motif was not new when used in the yellow-
staining black ware, since it appears on a Sasanian metal
dish (Smirnov, Argenterie orientale^ pi. lxxvii, no. 135).
The pyramids of dotted scalelike forms at the bases of the
columns are a frequent motif in this ware (16, 18, 32).
Alternating with the columns is a crosshatched form,
either a lozenge or an enclosure made of opposed ogee
curves, to which are attached four pyramidal forms in a
cross arrangement. This device, variants of which occur
on 17 and 18, also occurs on a fragment of a bowl with red
engobe (Group 5, 53) on which the drawing is done in
yellow-staining black on areas of white slip. Further vari-
ants occur in the glazed pottery of Afrasiyab (Maysuradze,
"Afrasiyab," pi. ix, upper) and, with eight instead of four
pyramidal forms, in the glazed pottery of Merv (Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 244, fig. 15).
Base, covered with engobe and glaze, is beveled, but the
piece is so made that it rests on the circular pad in the
center rather than on the outer ring. All painting in stain-
ing black. Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze, is dec-
orated with groups of fine parallel lines, drawn from the
rim at a slant in increasing lengths. A similar exterior dec-
oration occurs in the slip-painted ware with colored en-
gobe (Group 5, 4, 5). Interior: two radial panels, opposite
one another, heavily outlined and with somewhat pointed
lower ends, filled with a version of the familiar ornament
derived from pseudo Kufic. Crossing the center of the
bowl between the panels is a row of three crosslike figures
(originally more than three?) composed of four pyramidal
forms connected by pairs of parallel lines (center figure)
or three divergent lines that are in turn connected by
hatching. A variant of the latter form occurs on 18. On
the bottom of 17 are the marks of a stilt.
16 BOWL FRAGMENT
W of fragment 31 cm ; Tepe Madraseli
MIB
Judging from the surviving portion, the exterior was un-
decorated. Glaze has spalled, a common occurrence in this
ware. All painting in staining black. At the rim, the usual
sawtooth. Beneath this, a band filled with a group of tightly
wound spirals alternating with a group of small circles in
pairs, one above the other; the circles contain small strokes
and the pairs are separated by two vertical lines. On the
wall, appearing four times, is a motif consisting of a loz-
enge with three large spots attached by hairlines to each
of its points. Small circles attached to the spots suggest
that they represent fruit. The lozenge and the hairlines
are adorned with bristlelike strokes. On the bottom is a
strongly drawn circle filled with crosshatching, the squares
of which are dotted. Projecting from the circle are four
pyramids of the dotted "scale" motif seen on 15. These
alternate with a plantlike motif consisting of three lines,
each of which terminates in a triangular group of short
crosslines.
The lozenge motif on the wall, not found in any other
ware in Nishapur, was known in Transoxiana, a bowl in
the Samarkand museum, ascribed to the "Soghdian
Period," having a somewhat related decoration in red,
black, and green (Field &: Prostov, Ars Islamica, V, p.
246, fig. 10). In a Russian publication, Pugachenkova 8c
Rempel, History of Art of Uzbekistan, this piece (fig. 194)
is dated to the tenth or eleventh century.
17 BOWL FRAGMENT
W of fragment 17.1 cm ; Tepe Madraseli
MMA 40.170.646
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
18 BOWL
D 15.5 ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Lip strongly outcurved. Rare in this ware, such a lip is
more often seen on small dishes that have a colored engobe
(Group 5, 11, 13, 21, 24). Exterior undecorated. Decora-
tion on interior entirely in yellow-staining black. A panel
filled with a variant of the pattern seen on 17 crosses the
center of the bowl. On one side only there is a pyramid of
the scale motif seen on 15 and 16. On the wall, poorly
drawn, a variant of one of the crosslike forms seen on 17.
A number of small bowls resembling 18 were found, in-
cluding one from the Qanat Tepe :
I
1:3
19 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
All painting in staining black. A hairline is drawn be-
neath the customary sawtooth. Similar lines in conjunc-
tion with a sawtooth occur on 1, 3, 14, and 26. The prin-
cipal decoration is a band containing four-lobed figures
on a ground of the familiar dotted circle and line motif,
with the circles here becoming mere scribbles. Although
the contrast between the bold figures and delicate detail
is not uninteresting, this sort of decoration is rarely
drawn with sufficient skill to be truly attractive.
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
221
20 BOWL (base missing)
D 14.7 cm; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Interior undecorated. Exterior: three horizontal rows of
circles with central dots, painted entirely in staining
black. The contrast between heavy and light lines, cus-
tomary in this ware, is here absent.
21 DISH FRAGMENT
D 11.5, H 4 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.387
Poorly made, with rough base. Base is covered with en-
gobe and glaze. Exterior undecorated. Interior: crudely
painted radial bands define quadrants and give the effect
of interweaving at the center. Two of the quadrants are
filled with curling stems that end in trefoils. Three half-
moons appear at the rim of the only complete alternate
quadrant. The painting described thus far is in ordinary
black. In the alternate quadrants, in staining black, is a
roughly triangular compartment filled with loosely drawn
dotted circles.
22 BOWL FRAGMENT
W II cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MMA 40.170.464
Smooth pinkish buff body, not characteristic of Nishapur.
The exterior, judging from this fragment, was undeco-
rated. Interior : fantastic birds, intervening compartments
filled with dots and peacock eyes, and the usual sawtooth
at the rim. The thin outlines of the compartments and the
decoration within them are in staining black; the rest is in
thick ordinary black (which areas alone still retain any
glaze). The birds, with large, unnaturally placed, spot-
filled wings, resemble less certain birds in the buff ware
(Group 1, 81, 83) than some drawn in white slip on bowls
with a purplish black engobe (Group 5, 5). It is not yet
possible to say whether such pieces as 22 were made in
Nishapur, as is probable, or were imported there.
In the period since 1940 similar bowls, reputedly and
probably found in Nishapur, have come to light. One
(unpublished) in the C. L. David Collection, Copenhagen,
is decorated with two birds whose dot-filled wings are at-
tached, one at the neck, one at the tail. A similar bowl
(unpublished) is in the Ettinghausen collection. In the
Erickson collection is a bowl with a single bird, its wings,
each filled with a half-palmette, attached near its neck
with long strokes. In the Berlin museum is a bowl with a
single bird, one of whose wings is filled with a half-
palmette, the other with spots (Erdmann, Berliner Mu-
seen^ X, p. 8, fig. 2). In the Seattle Art Museum (Wilkinson,
Iranian Ceramics, pi. 29) is a bowl with a more developed
and sophisticated design than any of the foregoing. On
this single bird with crested head are wings that contain
two half-palmettes joined back to back; with their various
supplemental lines, the wings themselves resemble birds.
23 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 1 1 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.514
Reddish buff, slightly gritty body. Shallow upturned rim.
On the exterior the engobe extends only a short distance
down, but the glaze descends to the base. Interior, in
staining black: a radial band (probably one of four, form-
ing quadrants) and a pattern of the familiar whorl and line
motif, drawn on a larger scale than usual. Carnelian red
slip has been introduced in the radial band, for which
reason the piece can be looked on as a link between the
present ware and the polychrome on white.
24 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.572
Another fragment of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
Well turned, with thin wall. The glaze has spalled, taking
with it some of the engobe and exposing the reddish body.
The staining pigment is in color unlike the staining black
of Nishapur, and it has none of that black's typical specks.
It is also unlike the greenish yellow-staining pigment so
common in Afrasiyab. Much browner than usual, it barely
stains the glaze. The rim of this once large bowl was deco-
rated with parallel slanting strokes placed between two
circumscribing lines. The style of the foliated curl en-
closed in compartments on the wall is related to the in-
cised decoration on a waster of alkaline-glazed ware
(Group 11, 50) and indicates a date not earlier than the
eleventh century. The resemblance does not necessarily
mean that 24 was made in Nishapur or that it was of pre-
cisely the same date. Another bowl of the present ware, 3,
also has a link with the alkaline-glazed ware.
25 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 11.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.510
Reddish body. Exterior, covered with engobe and glaze,
is undecorated. Dark lines around the rim probably di-
vided the design into a number of petallike forms with
ogee tops, perhaps in the manner of a bowl that was prob-
ably made in Afrasiyab (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi.
19A). Such shapes occasionally occur in the buff ware
(Group 1, 87). The dark lines of 25, painted in ordinary
black that has a brown tinge, retain the glaze; elsewhere
it has disintegrated. The decoration beneath the dark
lines, drawn in staining black, consists of forms resem-
bling acacia seeds in reserve against a loose version of the
dotted circle and line motif.
222
Ware with Tel Low-staining Black
26 FRAGMENT
W 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.512
Another fragment of this piece is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish body. Exterior undecorated. Painted entirely in
staining black. At the rim, a sawtooth with a hairline
added beneath it (compare 1, 3, 14, 19), below which is
a band made up of a half-leaf of a rare form. Placed within
this motif (visible particularly at the right) is a group of
closely drawn short strokes, a feature of this ware (com-
pare 14, central figure; 16, plantlike motif around center
circle and details on lozenge).
30 VASE
H 13.6, D 10.2 cm ; near shrine of Muhammad Mahruq
(surface find)
MIB
Body tapers to narrow neck with encircling convex ring,
neck flares widely. No other vessel of this shape was found
in Nishapur, Glaze has spalled, carrying away much of the
engobe. The main divisions of the design, painted in a
heavy brownish black, form circles and bands. These are
filled with loosely drawn details in yellow-staining black,
including a cable motif around the neck, circular forms
above it, and vaguely suggested writing beneath it.
27 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 11.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.505
Reddish buff body with engobe on exterior only. The thin
coat of clear glaze, which covers the interior as well as the
exterior, is tinted a strong yellow on the exterior by the
blackish spots, which form a decoration of the simplest
kind.
28 LID
D 10 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.20
A similar lid is in the Teheran museum. The knob is
painted in the ordinary black, as is the line at the rim.
The rest of the decoration, a band of the common line and
whorl motif, is painted in yellow-staining black. Probably
intended to cover a vessel of the shape of 30. Fragments
were also found of much larger lids in this ware, evidently
intended to cover bowls. These were similar in shape to
color-splashed grafhato lids (Group 2, 38, 39). One had
a decoration consisting of the four-circle motif seen in
the reserved circles of 13 in the present group.
29 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 19.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.147
Reddish body. Base has shallow bevel. Exterior undec-
orated. Glaze completely disintegrated. Interior: a half-
palmette followed by a group of strong radial strokes,
half-moons at the rim above the half-palmette, a heavy
circumscribing line around the bottom. The tip of the
half-palmette has within it, in reserve, a many-leaved
half-palmette, an interesting artistic conception. The dec-
oration thus far noted is in ordinary black. The spaces
between the half-palmette and the radial strokes are oc-
cupied by outlined compartments filled with dots and
peacock eyes, painted in staining black, A small dotted
triangular form in the same black appears above the initial
curl of the half-palmette.
31 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 9.4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.105
Reddish body. The base, slightly concave, has no engobe
or glaze. The inscription, painted in yellow-staining black,
has so far not been read. No other piece of pottery was
found in Nishapur decorated with this particular cursive
script. The dark area above the writing — an island not
covered by the engobe but only by the glaze — shows the
potter's carelessness.
32 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 20 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.511
Another fragment of this bowl, which was probably a large
one like 15, is in the Teheran museum. Reddish buff body,
pinkish surface. Glaze, with hair cracks, has spalled in
places, taking the engobe with it. Exterior undecorated.
Interior decorated entirely in yellow-staining black: a
sawtooth at the rim, beneath which is a line of what ap-
pears to be simulated writing, based on the letter kaf.
Next, a line with brisdelike projections (compare 8), prob-
ably an imitation of miniature Kufic writing. Beneath this
is a band filled with the dotted circle and line motif. A
triangular compartment extending downward from this
band is filled with dotted crosshatching (compare 16).
Projecting from this is a pyramid of dotted "scales," as
on 15, 16, 18.
33 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 13,3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Nothing remains of the decoration but part of a debased
Kufic inscription, painted in yellow-staining black. The
erroneous dotting of the letters shows that the potter
was illiterate.
226
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
Ware with Yellow-staining Black 227
228
Ware with Yellow-staining Black
9
Monochrome Ware
A. considerable number of vessels found in Nishapur
were decorated with a lead glaze of a single color, applied
either on a white or a colored engobe, and occasionally
directly on the clay surface. This appHcation of a colored
glaze, an innovation in the pottery of eastern Iran in the
ninth century, had been a common practice in other parts
of the Islamic world. Even earher, in the Sasanian period,
monochrome pottery had been made in Iraq. It was also
used, and perhaps made, in Susa, a center that had long
enjoyed trade connections with Mesopotamia. But on the
plateau of Iran, north and east of Susa, the early mono-
chrome ware was known only by a few imports. That
such was the case is evident from the very few mono-
chrome glazed pieces found by the Metropohtan's exca-
vations at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, some of which are of the
Parthian period (Upton, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin^ December, 1934, p. 16, fig. 24, no. 3).
The monochrome vessels found in Nishapur were made
in the ninth century and later. They include bowls,
dishes and assemblies of dishes, jars, pitchers, ewers, and
lamps. Occasionally only single examples were found of a
particular shape, such as that of a small spouted pitcher
1:3
from the Qanat Tepe. Another unusual vessel was a
"casserole"-like piece with two semicircular lugs. An-
other variation of this form, glazed chocolate brown, with
straight rather than flaring sides, was found in the kiln
area. Certain peculiarities can be noted in the shapes of
this ware. None of the bowls, for example, has a foot ring.
A flattened, slightly projecting rim, to give another exam-
ple, is common to most of the green-glazed deep bowls,
jars, and pitchers. There seems to have been an association
1:3
between shape and color. Green, by far the most popular
color, was apparently favored for small jars and pitchers
as well as for lamps. Although jars of all sizes were glazed
green, brown appears only on jars of medium and smaU
size. Bowls with flaring sides and a vertical rim, 33 for
example, are never found colored green. Bowls with low
I
vertical sides are not glazed green but brown and seem to
be of a later period. An instance of a special shape with a
wide flaring rim was found at a deep level in the Village
Tepe. It was dupUcated, almost exactly, a few centuries
later in alkahne glaze in an example found at the East
Ealns (see drawing, page 260). In Nishapur blue seems
hardly to have been used in the ninth and tenth cen-
turies. The color was not possible to achieve with copper
in a lead glaze, and during this period cobalt was not
used in Khurasan. Later, when glazes that were sub-
stantially alkaline were employed and a new body was
229
230
Monochrome Ware
1:3
introduced to which the alkahne glaze "fitted," cobalt
was much in vogue. The vessels colored with cobalt are
included, therefore, in Group 11. A fair number of vessels
were discovered that were glazed brown, the color some-
times a rich chocolate. Some, mostly small and of poor
quality, were not given an engobe and had a colorless
glaze apphed directly to the surface; they have a hght
yellowish color. Of those that are a deep brown some
were covered by a glaze that itself contained the coloring
metallic base; it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the
glaze has acquired its color directly from the admixture
of a manganese base or indirectly from a colored engobe
containing manganese. Manganese gives the brown a cold
cast. The hue varies somewhat. Occasionally the glaze is
flecked with blackish spots, perhaps unintended and due
to insufficient grinding of the metaUic oxides, or intended
and due to a purposeful addition of iron.
Usually, the technique of using a colored engobe was
employed for vessels that were embellished with sHp
painting in white and sometimes with red also, the ware
thus classifiable as polychrome with colored engobe
(Group 5). Dark brown seems to have been used for
shallow dishes and for widely flaring bowls but not for
those of hemispherical shape. It was not favored either
for small pinch-spouted lamps, but it was used for flower-
pots. Inasmuch as the potters of Nishapur made graffiato
ware covered by a transparent glaze splashed with colors,
it would have been strange indeed if they had not also
applied colorless glaze over a scratched decoration.
By far the most popular color for these glazed mono-
chrome graffiato vessels was green, but vessels so deco-
rated seem never to have equaled the popularity of the
color-splashed graffiato wares (Group 2). To a modern
eye it is strange that a monochrome glaze was appreciated
so much less than a color-splashed, since it produces a
simpler, less confusing efi'ect when appHed over a
scratched decoration. The graffiato fines, thanks to' the
exposure of the clay body and the local thickness of the
glaze, appear black. The ware was always fired inverted,
and the extra thickness of glaze resulting at the rim
becomes almost black, and so is in harmony with the
scratched designs.
The designs of the green-glazed graffiato ware are sel-
dom identical to those of the color-splashed ware. In the
green-glazed ware there is a great use of spiral curls and
of circular forms filled with roughly drawn fofiate forms.
Although compartments appear, they occur less fre-
quently, and in no case are they so elegantly drawn as in
the best of the color-splashed pieces. The tendency is for
the designs to be looser. A feature lacking in the color-
splashed ware is introduced here, even though it is rare :
Kufic writing, which can be both deUcate and graceful
(44).
Green-glazed graffiato bowls were also made in Afra-
siyab, but with decoration of a difi'erent sort (Erdmann,
Bulletin of the Iranian Institute^ VI, p. 103, fig. 2). They
are distinguished by their designs, which are on a larger
scale. Introduced in the flowing curves is hatching, cut
in short, straight strokes, such as appears also in the
color-splashed ware of Afrasiyab (Group 2, 59). Another
distinguishing feature is the lack of glaze on the exterior.
The Afrasiyab ware is usually unglazed except at the
rim, whereas the Nishapur ware is glazed from the rim
to the base. Certain motifs — a cable pattern, for one —
seem to be common to both centers. Doubtless Nishapur
and Afrasiyab each produced for its own market, even if
a few pieces undoubtedly traveled between the two cities.
As with the color-splashed ware, there is no relation-
ship between the green-glazed graffiato ware of Nishapur
and those of northwest Iran of the Garrus and Yasukand
regions (Pope, Survey^ V, pis. 612-615 A, 617 B, 618,
620 B), which feature carved, rather than scratched, de-
signs. A very few vessels found in Nishapur, instead of
having an incised decoration beneath a green glaze, had
one that can better be described as cut (55). Examples of
this technique have been found in Iraq and Turkestan as
well as in Iran; the rarity of such pieces in Nishapur sug-
gests that they were not actually made there.
Molded pottery was also covered with a green glaze,
and of this a few sherds were unearthed; again, these
were so few in number that local manufacture seems
doubtful.
In general it may be said that yellow glaze was not used
in Nishapur to cover graffiato designs. A large bowl so
glazed (50) was surely an import. A few stray sherds,
glazed yellow, dating from the eleventh or twelfth cen-
tury, are of uncertain origin. Also of this late period are
a few sherds of graffiato ware (60) with a purple glaze,
possibly made locally. This possibOity is suggested by
the discovery of a waster with purple glaze, having a
white composed body, collapsed in a sagger (Group 11,
76). A pecuHarity of certaia of these late graffiato pieces
is the presence of rather strongly incised rings near the
Monochrome Ware
231
rim (51, 59, 63). The glaze of this subgroup is colorless,
so that the design appears as pale brown against a white
ground. The shape, with small base and convex wall —
often turned thin with a shghtly thickened rim — is not
typical of the tenth century in Nishapur but approaches
that of the alkaline-glazed ware of the late eleventh or
twelfth century. The loose, leafy forms of the color-
splashed ware (Group 2) do not generally figure in the
decoration of these uncolored pieces, spiral curls or
deeply incised foliations taking their place. In excep-
tional pieces (63) the incised forms are similar to those
seen in the alkaHne-glazed ware (Group 11). Further-
more, the Arabic writing, in Kufic (59, 63) or Naskhi
1 PITCHER (minor restoration)
H 31, D 24.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.82
Red body, buff engobe, strong green glaze. Base slightly
concave. A circumscribing groove on the shoulder, two at
the collar. Surmounting the handle is a flat disk. The top
of the pitcher is in the form of an animal's head. Its horns
curl horizontally, forming an open loop ; the tips project
upward at an angle. A strip of clay is applied along the
length of its nose — the pitcher's spout. Probably tenth
century.
A related find was an earthenware ram's head of about
the same size, glazed brown (MMA 40.170.515), but since
this was unpierced, it could only have been a decorative
feature.
In Merv, a spout in the form of a head also had added
decoration on the top of the nose (Lunina, Trudy, XI,
p. 314, fig. 55). This piece, perhaps of the twelfth century,
is unglazed.
For an animal-headed pitcher in the buff ware of Nisha-
pur, see Group 1, 72, where a number of such pitchers
and spouts from other sites, including one with green
glaze, are mentioned.
2 PITCHER
H 27, D 16.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.85
Buff clay, no engobe, green glaze. Thinly turned. Base
flat, a slight projection, four millimeters wide, at the edge.
The flat lip projects slightly. Two projecting bands en-
circle the neck; combed lines decorate the space between
them. The sides of the vessel are chattered, doubtless as
a decoration, which treatment is often encountered in the
unglazed pitchers of Nishapur.
(52), can be distinguished from that on other Nishapur
wares, including the black on white, by such details as
the rounded forms of 59 and the proportions of the letters
on 63, of which the verticals are short, without unduly
exaggerated triangular tops. It is far from certain that the
monochrome pieces just described were made in Nisha-
pur. The rarity is such as to make it less than Hkely. On
the other hand, the resemblances are not very close to
certain bowls from Yasukand on which the wall decora-
tion does consist of an inscription and on which there
also appears a double Hue near the rim (Pope, Survey^ V,
pi. 619 A).
2 1:2
232
Monochrome Ware
3 FOUR-HANDLED JAR
H 30.2, D 26 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red core, buff surface, strong green glaze. Flat, projecting
rim. Two of the handles are plain, two are twisted like
ropes. Probably not earlier than late tenth century. Rope-
like handles were known in pre-Islamic pottery (Debe-
voise, Parthian Pottery^ p. 14, fig. 2).^
6 TWO-HANDLED JAR
H 15, W 15 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Reddish clay, green glaze. Flattened rim projects slightly.
Larger green -glazed two-handled jars with grooved necks
1:3
were found in Sabz Fushan. These glazed, nonporous jars
were for liquids other than water. Somewhat similar two-
handled jars, made with thinner walls, were left unglazed
so that evaporation through the clay would cool the water
stored within them.
4 THREE-HANDLED JAR (one handle missing)
H 31, D 24.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Red body. Glaze, considerably disintegrated, is bluish
green, indicating presence of alkali. Flat disks surmount
the handles (compare 1). Flat, projecting rim. A groove
encircles the neck at the upper attachment of the handles,
another encircles the shoulder at the lower attachment.
Probably eleventh century.
5 PITCHER
H 16.6, D 12.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Red core, buff surface, greenish yellow glaze. Projecting
rim, poorly fashioned. Eleventh century.
7 JAR
H 15.3, D 11.7 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Red body, no engobe, green glaze. Flat, projecting rim.
Poorly made. Location indicates eleventh century.
PITCHER
H 12.5, D 10.95 cm ; South Horn
MIB
Reddish body, green glaze. The pitcher tapers down from
a high shoulder, the neck is almost vertical, and the lip
projects slightly. A single handle joins neck to shoulder.
A very common shape in Nishapur. Contrary to custom,
the glaze does not extend to the foot.
Monochrome Ware
233
9 JAR
H 13, D 12 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, green glaze. Flat, projecting rim. The body
tapers less severely than that of 8. A very common shape
in Nishapur. A drawing of a similar jar is shown :
Red body, thin, light buff engobe. Green glaze. The piece
is asymmetrical, the foot, poorly fashioned, projects be-
yond the line of the wall. The base is flat. The rim
projects and slopes downward. A groove encircles the
middle of the neck.
1:3
10 JAR
H 11.2, W 11 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.12
12 JAR
H 12.5, W 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
Discarded
Red body, green glaze. The jar has a slight projecting
collar, the neck is concave. Other jars of this sharply
tapered shape, and as poorly made, were glazed brown.
Tenth century.
13 JAR
H 12.4, W 9.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red core, buff surface, green glaze. Flat, projecting rim.
The shoulder is high and rounded, the base flat. Ninth or
tenth century. A similar example is in the Metropolitan
1:3
Buff body, thin buff engobe. Green glaze on exterior.
Interior unglazed. A few streaks of glaze on the flat base.
Thinly turned. Location indicates ninth century. Small
jars of similar shape occur in the unglazed ware (Group
12, 91).
1:3
(39.40.78). Such jars were also provided with a pair of
handles, one such was found at Sabz Pushan.
11 JAR
H 12, W 10.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.83
1:3
14 TWO-SPOUTED LAMP (handle restored)
L 14.5, H 4.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.46
Buff body, green glaze of dull hue, due to absence of
engobe. Body decorated with a wreathlike band of in-
dented V-shapes. Lamps of similar shape, though with
only one spout, were also found. Lamps were found in a
tenth-century kiln in Paikand, near Bukhara, their deco-
ration simpler in that the indentations are not V-shaped
but are vertical (Kondratieva, Trudy ^ V p. 226, pi.
VIII, l). It is probable that lamps such as 14 came to
Nishapur as part of the gear of merchants or other trav-
elers from Transoxiana.
234
Monochrome Ware
15 LAMP
L 14, H 7.6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MM A 37.40.1
Red core, buff surface, strong green glaze. The open
spout and the loop handle rising well above the rim are
characteristic of lamps of the ninth and tenth centuries
(see also 16, 18, 19), whereas lamps of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries typically have the sides of their spouts
pinched together and are furnished with small loop han-
dles that do not project above the rim (Group 11, 9).
For a lamp found in Russian Turkestan shaped like 15,
with ornamental indentations around the central opening,
see lakubovski, Hermitage Museum: Works of the Oriental
Dept., II, pi. X.
16 LAMP
L 11.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Buff body, dark green glaze. A light, thinly made piece.
Lamps of this shape sometimes have a row of five simple
indentations on either side of the central opening.
17 LAMP (most of handle restored)
H 9.7, D of bottom 13.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.288
Reddish body, thin buff engobe, green glaze. The actual
base, nine centimeters in diameter, is slightly concave.
Lamps with a central column were made in the color-
splashed ware of Nishapur (none illustrated) and the alka-
line-glazed ware (Group 11, 5, 25). They were also made
in Lashkari Bazar (Gar din, Lashkari Bazar ^ II, pi. xxviii,
no. 548).
18 LAMP
L 14, H 5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.297
Reddish core, buff surface. Strong green glaze. Glaze
covers the whole of the base.
19 LAMP
L 20 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red body, buff engobe, green glaze. The spout was orig-
inally long, after the fashion of 16. The domed top is a
rare feature in Nishapur.
20 LAMP
L 7, H 3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.17
Reddish clay, green glaze. Made without a handle. Lamps
similar to this but with a higher base and glazed light
blue, rather than green, were found at Samarra (Sarre,
Die Keramik von Samarra^ p. 26, fig. 74; Excavations at
Samarra^ 1936-1939^ II, pis. liv, lx). The small lamps
of Samarra were often circular and in many instances had
a tablike handle.
21 LAMP
L 8 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Green glaze, spout blackened by use. Crudely made, the
handle merely a pinched piece of clay. A lamp of the same
shape but only four and one-half centimeters long was
also unearthed; despite its small size, it had been used.
22 LAMP
L 8, H 6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.28
1:2
Red core, white engobe. Because of the engobe, the glaze,
where it is in good condition, is a rather sharp green.
Crudely made. Shows signs of use. Small glazed lamps
with such bases are still made at Istalif, Afghanistan (E. K.
Maillart, The Cruel Way, London, 1947, p. 182, ill. 3).
23 MINIATURE JAR
H 6.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Yellowish clay, green glaze. Flat, slightly projecting lip.
Perhaps used as a lamp, as was 24.
24 LAMP
H 5.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.133
1:2
Monochrome Ware
235
Yellowish clay, green glaze. Flat, slightly projecting lip.
Troughed foot, flat base. A slight ridge at the base of the
neck. Used as a lamp, some blackening remaining.
25 BOWL
H 25, D 39 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:4
Red core, buff surface, green glaze. No engobe, conse-
quently the green is dull. The largest vessel of this ware
found. A mark encircling the body indicates that a string
was tied around the bowl to give support during manu-
facture. Base slightly concave. Flat, projecting rim. Three
encircling grooves immediately below the rim. Beneath
these, a wavy groove. The bowl is unusual in that it is
furnished with a simple lug (visible at the right in the
illustration). Found in a location indicating tenth century.
A similar bowl, in the Teheran museum, is only half as
high, with green glaze, almost identical grooves, a single
lug, and an exceptionally thin base:
1:4
26 JAR
H 16.5, D 19.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 39.40.25
Reddish buff core, pale buff surface. Bright green glaze
1:3
overall, including the flat base. Flat, projecting rim. Two
encircling grooves at collar. In shape very close to Chinese
green-glazed earthenware of the Han and T'ang dynasties
(O. D. Riicker-Embden, Chinesische Fruhkeramik^ Leipzig,
1922, pi. 5).
27 BOWL
D 20.3, H 6.25 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red clay, green glaze. A poorly made piece with sagging,
everted rim. A groove near the edge of the base. Green-
glazed bowls of this shape were not common. A smaller
example was found that sagged even more and had a
slightly concave base. Such poorly made pieces were
doubtless local products because they were numerous and
not worth importing.
28 JAR
H 22.4, D 15 cm ; Qanat Tepe
Discarded
1:3
236
Monochrome Ware
Red clay, white engobe, green glaze. Poorly made and
badly spalled. Flat base. Lip projects and slopes down-
ward. A groove encircling the body halfway up indicates
that the piece may have been made in two halves.
29 BOWL
D 21.5, H 9.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body, white engobe, clear bright green glaze. Rim
slopes down within the bowl. Several circumscribing
grooves on the exterior. Broken in antiquity and repaired
by riveting. One of several examples from Nishapur show-
ing that repairing was not confined to rare or finely made
pieces. Several bowls that also taper down from a flat rim,
apparently all of the ninth and tenth centuries, were
found in various locations (the drawing reproduces an
1:3
example from Village Tepe). A very similar shape occurs
in the color-splashed ware (Group 2, 52, 53).
30 BOWL
D 16.5, H 8.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Red body, no engobe, warm green glaze. Base slightly
concave. The rim is flat and slopes down and inward.
One strongly marked circumscribing groove beneath the
rim. On the base, remains of a stilt; stilt marks on the
bottom also.
31 BOWL
D 25.5, H 15 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.191
Red body, huffish surface, green glaze. Circumscribing
grooves beneath the rim. The base has a deep groove, a
centimeter in width, that almost forms a foot ring.
32 BOWL
D 15.15, H 10 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
Red body, no engobe, green glaze. Flat base, projecting
rim. A circumscribing groove beneath the rim. Lowest
32 1:3
1:3
level location suggests ninth century. Another example,
also from the Village Tepe and the same deep level, has
a similar rim, but its base is closer in diameter to its top,
resulting in a steeper wall. It is in the Teheran museum.
Green-glazed bowls were also made with insloping walls
as in the drawing:
1:3
33 BOWL
D 23, H 10 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.283
Red body, chocolate brown glaze, which, on vessels of
the present shape, never seems to be of a' purplish hue.
The brown color was less popular than green, but it was
not only used for bowls, as can be seen on 36 and 37 and
on lamps like 20. At the base of the vertical rim is a pro-
jecting ridge. The base of the bowl is slightly concave.
Bowls of this shape occur in three other wares of Nishapur :
the graffiato color-splashed (Group 2, 31), the poly-
Monochrome Ware
237
chrome on white (Group 4, 53, among others), and the
alkahne-glazed (Group 11, 80), The shape seems to have
been especially popular in the late tenth and early eleventh
centuries. Such pieces, with an alkaline blue glaze and a
gritty white composite body (Group 11^ 31), were not
made before the end of the eleventh century at the earliest.
34 BOWL
D 23, H 11.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body. The engobe, containing manganese, stained
the lead glaze a dark, cold brown. Rim slightly everted.
Circumscribing grooves on the exterior. A similar example
in the Metropolitan (38.40.175) from Sabz Pushan has a
brown glaze over all except the base, which is without
engobe. Yet another, in the Teheran museum, is also from
Sabz Pushan.
35 JAR
H 17, D 14.8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.19
Reddish buff body, dark brown glaze covering both out-
side and inside. Base slightly concave. Projecting rim.
Beneath it, two circumscribing grooves ; two more on the
shoulder. A somewhat similar jar from the same site is in
the MetropoHtan (39.40.26) :
1:3
shapes arranged in a herringbone pattern. The edge of
the flattened, projecting rim is marked with a series of
sloping indentations. On the interior the glaze extends
to just below the openwork.
37 PITCHER
H 15, D 12 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Red body, dark brown glaze. Tapered globular body; tall,
thin neck with flange. The piece probably had a small
domed lid in the fashion of those used on unglazed
pitchers of similar shape (Group 12, 30). A variation of
1:3
1:3
the shape was found in Sabz Pushan, the piece having a
flat projecting rim rather than a flange. A similar shape,
but for the flange, occurs in the tenth- and eleventh-
century earthenware of Merv (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 275,
fig. 30, top left). It continued after the eleventh century
with the bodies of later pieces tending to become more
globular (Bahrami, Gurgan Faiences^ pi. xiii, center).
36 FLOWERPOT
H 13.5, D 17.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.19
Reddish body, buff" surface, dark, clear chocolate brown
glaze. In places it has run under the base, making the
piece sit somewhat unstably. The vertical collar, rising
from a groove and a projecting ridge, is pierced in oval
38 ASSEMBLY OF DISHES
D 19.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Probably for serving nuts and sweetmeats. Reddish clay,
clear dark brown glaze. Five dishes joined in a ring by
means of flat strips of clay, the outer tips of which are
pointed. The rims of the dishes are flat and project
238
Monochrome Ware
slightly. The making of such assemblies in Iran goes back
to the ninth century B.C. ; an example found at Hasanlu,
in which the dishes number three, is in the Metropolitan
(60.20.60). A Sasanian example found at Qasr-i-abu Nasr
(unpublished) has three hemispherical dishes connected
by straps similar to those of 38. The monochrome assem-
blies were not confined to Iran. An example originally
composed of seven compartments covered with yellow
glaze was found in Ramla {Ramla Excavations^ see under
glazed pottery, fig. 2). It dates to the eighth or early
ninth century.
Assemblies occur in three other Nishapur wares: the
buff (Group 1, 48), the color-splashed (Evdimnn^ Berliner
Museen^ X? P* 8, fig. 6), and the blue -glazed ware with an
earthenware body. An assembly in the latter ware with an
opaque turquoise glaze and an inscription in black ap-
peared on the market after 1940.
In the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries a different
kind of sweetmeat dish was made elsewhere than Nishapur
in luster ware (Pope, Survey^ V, pL 644 C).
39 ASSEMBLY OF DISHES
D 28, H 4.2 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Reddish clay, blue glaze. A central circular dish with
eight smaller ones attached to its circumference. Flat
attachments similar to those of 38, except that they are
embellished by raised studs, join the small dishes. Within
the central dish is a shallow cup, its rim less high than the
rim of the dish. This probably functioned as a lamp or a
candlestick. Lamps or candlesticks of generally similar
shape occur in the unglazed ware of Nishapur (Group 12,
44, 45).
40 BOWL
D 20, H 6.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.185
Reddish clay, white engobe, graffiato decoration, green
glaze. Base slightly concave. Exterior glazed but undeco-
rated. Within the bowl, in a doubly outlined band, is a
repetitive Kufic "inscription," gracefully drawn, with
foliated verticals and tops. On the bottom is a doubly
outlined circle filled with crosshatching. Fired upside
down. Tenth century. Similar bowls were found on which
the hatching on the bottom is wavy, as it sometimes is in
the color-splashed graffiato ware (Group 2, 43). Although
bowls with graffiato decoration and green glaze were com-
mon in Nishapur, those with pseudo inscriptions were
rare.
41 BOWL
D 20.5, H 6.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.125
Red clay, white engobe, graffiato decoration, green glaze.
Base slightly concave. Exterior glazed but undecorated.
Within the bowl, two rows of loosely drawn spiral forms
separated by a double line. On the bottom, a circle filled
with crosshatching. Fired upside down, the glaze gather-
ing at the rim on one side in a projecting drop. Tenth
century. Somewhat similar vessels were found in Tiz on
the Persian Gulf (Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances^
pi. IV, nos. Al, A2).
42 BOWL
D 22.5, H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.20
Red body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, green glaze.
Base slightly concave. Exterior glazed but undecorated.
Decoration on the wall in two registers, the upper con-
taining a running border of half-leaves with small trifoliate
forms filling the triangular spaces, the lower containing
circles filled with flowerlike designs based on S-curves.
Bottom covered with wide crosshatching. Three bare
spots here, the result of breaking free a stilt. Fired upside
down, drops of glaze gathering on the rim. Tenth century.
43 BOWL
D 19.5, H 6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Red clay, white engobe, strong green glaze. Graffiato
decoration on the wall of loosely drawn spirals, the pat-
tern divided into quadrants by variations in the placing
of the spirals. The bottom covered with long spirals.
Stilt marks present. Fired upside down, drops of glaze
gathering on the rim. Tenth century. Some graffiato
green bowls have, in addition to the concave base, a
double change of angle above it and in the one illustrated,
a more outcurving rim. Another example from Tepe
Madraseh is in the MetropoHtan (40.170.8):
1:3
Monochrome Ware
239
44 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 19.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.184
47 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 22,5 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MMA 38.40.186
1:3
Red body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, clear green
glaze. The almost hemispherical shape seen here is com-
moner in the green-glazed graffiato ware than in any other
Nishapur ware. The design consists of freely drawn half-
palmettes back to back within circles. This decoration is
reminiscent of the more loosely filled graffiato circles
found at Samarra {Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939^
II, pi. LXXXl).
45 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 24.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, clear green
glaze. The decoration, a variant of that on 41, consists of
two rows of circular plantlike figures. The bottom, cross-
hatched, shows stilt marks. An incomplete bowl with
flaring sides, somewhat better potted than 45, also from
1:3
Reddish body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, green
glaze. In shape somewhat different from the preceding
bowls, in that there is a sudden change of direction in the
silhouette just where the bottom joins the inner wall.
The base has a bevel supplemented by two grooves and
curves downward. The compartments on the inner wall,
alternately triangular and four-sided, are filled with
motifs suggesting leafy forms. The resemblance of this
decoration to certain of the color-splashed graffiato bowls
is rather close (Group 2, 23).
1:3
Sabz Pushan, had two rows of more carefully drawn circu-
lar motifs containing leaflike forms, the rows separated
by a band containing a wavelike motif.
46 BOWL FRAGMENT
D 24.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, green glaze
— uneven and blotchy. Four large circles each contain a
circular area filled with crosshatching. Between the circles
are double-outlined biconvex forms devoid of interior
decoration. The spaces between the figures are filled with
a scalelike scribble reminiscent of several color-splashed
graffiato bowls found in Nishapur. Possibly an import
from Afrasiyab.
48 BOWL (incomplete)
D 22.5, H 7.8 cm ; Tepe Maclraseh
MMA 40.170,96
Red body, white engobe, bright, clear green glaze. A
larger example of the popular hemispherical shape seen
in 44. The graffiato design on the inner wall is divided
into three bands bounded by double lines. The upper
band contains V-shapes, alternately upright and inverted,
drawn in such a way that they suggest plants. The center
band contains a series of circles filled with curling forms.
Beneath this is a roughly drawn cable design. The bottom
was probably crosshatched.
240
Monochrome Ware
49 BOWL
D 22, H 8.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Red body, white engobe. Perhaps a waster; certainly a
spoiled piece, since the green glaze, badly mottled, has
turned a muddy brown. In shape similar to 44 and 48.
Fired upside down, the rim nearly black with accumulated
glaze; at one point a drop projects. On the wall, three
bands bounded by double lines, the top and bottom ones
filled with scribbled curls, the center one left empty. On
the bottom, a scribbled circle.
50 a,b BOWL
D 38.4, H 9.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.16
Yellowish body, graffiato decoration, toifee -colored glaze.
Although the walls are turned thin, the base, which has
no foot ring, is so poorly made that the vessel rocks when
placed on a flat surface. The lip is everted. Stilt marks and
a pool of glaze on the bottom. The exterior (50b) is
glazed but undecorated. On the interior wall are two
birds, their lack of feet and the simplified treatment of
their feathers and tails giving them a fishlike appearance.
At their necks are streamers, a survival of a Sasanian
fashion. From a ninth-century location. Since no other
examples of graffiato ware with this kind of body and
glaze were found, 50 must be considered an import, per-
haps, in view of the body, from Iraq, Birds without feet
occur in the imitation luster ware of Nishapur (Group 6,
44) and are also to be seen on glazed earthenware from
elsewhere in Iran (Pezard, Ceramique^ pi. Lxxxi, upper).
51 a,b BOWL
D 20.2, H 8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.213
I
Reddish core, buff surface, white engobe, nearly colorless
glaze, with graffiato decoration incised through the engobe
showing as brown. Clay has a very smooth feel, not typical
of Nishapur. Thinly turned, the wall somewhat convex,
the rim left a little thicker than the wall. The engobe does
not completely cover the inner surface; as a result there
are brown patches under the glaze on the bottom. Stilt
marks also present. The exterior (51b) is covered with
engobe and glaze but is undecorated. The base, concave,
has neither engobe nor glaze. Decoration: a deep band
bounded top and bottom by a pair of incised lines, a fea-
ture also of 59, 60, 63; within the band four shapes
resembling oak leaves, filling pear-shaped compartments,
alternate with four petal-shaped forms, each containing
an illegible word in Kufic. This is probably a corrupt
version of Allah^ as is suggested by comparable pieces
1:3
with a more elaborate decoration between the vertical let-
ters (Flury, Syria^ II, pis. xxxii, xxxiv). The outlines of
the eight forms on 51 are double; the triangular spaces
between them are filled with spirals. Found in a location
that produced a quantity of alkaline-glazed ware, suggest-
ing a date not earlier than the eleventh century. The
spiral pattern of 51 is to be seen in a modified form in the
Nishapur ware decorated with yellow-staining black
(Group 8, 10). It also occurs in Egyptian luster ware
(Bahgat Sc Massoul, Ceramique musulmane^ pis. xxiv,
nos. 1, 3, XXVI, no. 27, xxvii).
52 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
W 9.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, white engobe, nearly colorless glaze, graffi-
ato decoration incised through engobe showing as brown.
Central motif, a nine-petaled rosette. On the wall, above
a double ring, an inscription in a cursive hand, its base
toward the rim. From a site in use in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries.
53 DISH FRAGMENT
W 6.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.536
Mold-made. Pinkish body, smooth to the touch. White
Monochrome Ware
241
engobe. The glaze, which has a high lead content, has
almost entirely disintegrated. There are splashes of green
in it and what appears to be a spot of gold luster. The
decoration, in relief, consists of beaded bands with leafy
additions, very much like some of the gold-lustered ware
with green splashes found at Samarra {Excavations at
Samarra^ 1936-1939^ II, pis. lxxxix, no. 8, xc, top;
Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pis. x, xi). Probably
imported from Iraq.
54 DISH FRAGMENT
W 4.15 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Mold-made. Pinkish body, smooth to the touch. White
engobe. No trace of luster remains. The decoration is
somewhat related to 53, but the bands are decorated with
double concentric circles and the leaflike forms are more
complex. From a deep, ninth-century level. Imported
from Iraq.
55 DISH FRAGMENT
W 6.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.517
Gritty reddish body, no engobe, green glaze. Vertical
wall, flat, projecting rim. Beneath a circumscribing band
in relief, a series of vertical gouges forms a row of '^col-
umns." Probably an import.
56 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 4.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Mold-made. Green glaze. Decoration; two rows of con-
centric circles with a row of small stars between them.
An unusual piece, probably imported.
58 DISH FRAGMENT
W 8 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 40.170.459
Mold-made. Pinkish body, no engobe, clear green glaze
inside and over most of the exterior. The piece looks
unfinished beneath; there is no indication of a base and
the decoration simply fades away. In addition to a lack
of glaze on parts of the exterior, the piece is otherwise
faulty, for the decoration, consisting of small elongated
"open hearts," circles, and disks, slides down on one
ooooc
ooooooooc
side. If not a true waster, a spoiled piece. This was the
only fragment found with this type of design and of this
hemispherical shape. Several examples in Group 12 (147,
153) show related designs.
59 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 8.8 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.430
Reddish buff clay, white engobe, deeply incised graffiato
decoration, brownish beneath nearly colorless glaze. Near
the rim, triple incised lines. A pseudo inscription with
leafy forms developing from a curved stem in the spaces
between the ^^letters." The exterior, undecorated, is cov-
ered with engobe and glaze only about two-thirds of the
way down from the rim. Eleventh century.
57 DISH
W 11.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, white engobe, graffiato decoration, nearly
colorless glaze. The shape, with very small base and
widely flaring, slightly convex walls, was unusual in the
ninth- and tenth-century wares of Nishapur, but it had
become popular in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
The decoration, appearing yellowish brown under the
glaze, consists of the expression al yumn (happiness),
repeated thrice. A vertical stroke is added at each end of
the word, probably for decorative purposes. The verticals
have been given a foliated appearance by the addition of
curved strokes. Placed between the inscriptions is a small
circular scribble. Eleventh or twelfth century.
60 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 12.4 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.521
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish body, white engobe, deeply incised graffiato
decoration, clear purple glaze. Exterior glazed but undec-
orated. Turned thin, with the rim slightly thickened
(compare 51). The decoration, neatly drawn between
circumscribing lines (see 51, 59, 63), features an undulat-
ing stem from which half-leaves grow, their triangular
centers crosshatched. Above and below this, a cable
design. Not earlier than eleventh century. Purple-glazed
pieces were rare in Nishapur.
242
Monochrome Ware
61 FRAGMENT (pitcher?)
W 4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.535b
Mold-made. Very hard, gritty body, no engobe, dull
greenish gray glaze. The inside surface unglazed. Decora-
tion: rows of square lozenges. Each lozenge contains a
smaller one with a tiny ring at the center. An unusual
piece, probably imported.
62 JAR OR PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 6.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.537
Mold-made. Reddish body, no engobe, bright green glaze
on exterior surface only. Decoration : hatched bands with
raised outlines. A unique piece in Nishapur. The type of
decoration was used in Samarra on flat lustered dishes
{Excavations at Samarra^ 1936-1939^ II, pi. Lxxxix, nos.
2, 5, 8; Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pL c, nos. 2, 5).
63 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 17 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.537
Buff body, white engobe, deeply incised graffiato decora-
tion, greenish glaze. Exterior glazed but undecorated. In
shape probably originally like 51, which also is slightly
thickened near the rim and has two strongly marked
grooves near it. The well-formed Kufic letters with tri-
angular tops are not as curved as on 59, but the inter-
vening spaces are similarly filled with foliations. These
foliate designs can also be seen in the ware with yellow-
staining black (Group 8, 24) and the alkaline -glazed ware
(Group 11, 50).
64 PITCHER (?) FRAGMENT
W 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Made in the upper portion of a two-piece mold. Greenish
gray body, no engobe, dull green glaze, like 61. Decora-
tion of interwoven bands with raised outlines. In some of
the spaces between the bands, groups of three contiguous
circles. An unusual piece, probably imported. Somewhat
similar ware was found in Paikand (Kondratieva, Trudy^
V, p. 223, pi. vi).
248
Monochrome Ware
Monochrome Ware
10
Chinese Wares
IVIost of the pottery excavated at Nishapur was made
there. Of the rest, the greater part was imported from
other regions of the Islamic world, mainly from Iraq to
the west and Transoxiana to the east. In addition to these
importations, the remains of a few pieces of Chinese earth-
enware and porcelanous ware came to hght in Nishapur.
This is not surprising, for Chinese imports have been
found in a good many Islamic sites in Iran, Iraq, Arabia,
and Egypt.
Early Uterary references indicate that the Chinese
wares were regarded highly in Islam. In the context of
ceramics the word chini^ meaning Chinese, is in Arabic
and Persian almost a synonym for excellence. The pre-
sentation of two thousand and twenty pieces of chini
wares to Caliph Harun-al-Rashid (786-809) is mentioned
in connection with the color-splashed ware of Nishapur
(page 54). This testimony from Baihaqi is particularly
interesting in connection with Nishapur in that the donor
of the gift, Ah ibn Isa, was governor of Khurasan and was
buried at Mashhad, not far from Nishapur. Ali ibn Isa
was famous for the extent of his exactions and for his re-
maining in office by sharing them with the caliph, but of
even more significance for us is Baihaqi' s indication of
how much Chinese material was available in the eighth or
early ninth century. A writer who touches on another
aspect of the subject is the merchant Suleiman who, in his
account (dated 851) of his travels from the Persian Gulf to
China, shows that he was acquainted not only with Chinese
earthenware but Chinese porcelain. "The Chinese have a
fine clay," he says, "from which they make drinking cups
fine as glasses, through which you can see the gleam of the
water though they are made of clay" (Kahle, Transactions
of the Oriental Ceramic Society^ 18, p. 32). This quahty of
translucence would have been extraordinary to a MusHm,
for no potter in the Islamic world had the means of making
such a ware, which depends on the mixing of china clay
(kaolin) and china stone (feldspar), and high firing to make
a white vitrified substance. Tha^alibi, in the first half of the
eleventh century, is another writer who describes Chinese
porcelain, noting that some of the vessels are al-gadaHr al
mustashaffa (translucent). The finest ones ring and are
mishmishi (apricot color), he says, after which comes za-
badi (a cream-colored ware) (ibid., pp. 34, 35). Al-Biruni,
writing at the end of the eleventh century, mentions luma
(a parti-colored ware) and remarks on its great price
(ibid., p. 35). Relating how at Rayy he had a merchant
friend from Isfahan who owned vessels and other objects
of Chinese porcelain, al-Biruni adds that he was aston-
ished at his desire for such luxury.
The traffic in Chinese ceramics to the Islamic world was
probably mostly by sea. An indication of this is the men-
tion by the ninth-century geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih
in his Al-masalik wal-mamalik {Routes and Kingdoms) of
porcelain as one of the goods shipped from Lukin on the
Gulf of Tonkin — probably today's Lung-pien. Fragments
of Chinese wares have been found at more than one old
Islamic port. The most important of these appears to have
been Siraf on the Persian Gulf, where, according to Sulei-
man, Chinese vessels discharged their cargoes. Siraf was
described by Istakhri in the tenth century as the chief
port of Iran, its merchants the richest in the land. Until it
was destroyed by an earthquake in 977, Siraf had a com-
merce in Arab vessels with Basra in Iraq, and with Egypt,
one route probably via Safaga, whence a road passing
through the Wadi Hammamat to the Nile Valley had been
in use from Pharaonic and Roman times. Abu Zaid Hasan,
writing about 916, mentions that the boats going to Egypt
from Siraf had to be of shallow draft. It was undoubtedly
from Siraf that the Chinese ceramics found at Qasr-i-abu
Nasr in Iran were imported.
Other ports of importance on the Persian Gulf were
(old) Hormuz, the port for Kerman and Sistan, situated
near present-day Bander Abbas, and Tiz, opposite Mus-
cat, which has a route north to Nishapur and Mashhad.
At Shahr-i-Daqianus and Jiruft, both of which lie be-
tween Tiz and Nishapur, glazed pottery of the type made
in Khurasan and Transoxiana has been found, suggesting
a traffic from north to south and reason for assuming that
a similar traffic went northward. Istakhri relates that
Jiruft, flourishing early in the ninth century, was a chief
mart for the trade of Khurasan and Sistan (Stein, Archae-
ological Reconnaissances, p. 156). That Chinese ceramics
254
Chinese Wares
255
reached Nishapur by more than one route is Hkely. John
A, Pope in Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine,
Washington, D.C., 1956, pp. 19-23, supplies interesting
information on the transshipment of porcelain to the Is-
lamic world, although deahng with a later period. As
other parts of this study have made plain, pottery made in
Transoxiana was imported to Nishapur, and it may well
be that Chinese wares, reaching Transoxiana over the so-
called Silk Road, continued on to Nishapur and from
there on to Sabzewar (Baihaq), Damghan, and Rayy. It
was in Rayy that the friend of al-Biruni hved who pos-
sessed so much Chinese porcelain. That this overland
commerce ordinarily continued westward all the way to
Iraq is doubtful in view of the easier sea route from Siraf
to Basra. For Nishapur a further possibihty is that sea-
imported Chinese ceramics may have moved eastward
from Iraq on the Silk Road. There is every reason to be-
Heve that the importation of Chinese ceramics was much
greater in Iraq, the center of the Islamic world from the
mid-eighth century onward, than it was in Khurasan. Al-
though local dynasties such as the Tahirid, Saffarid, and
later the Samanid, enjoyed a certain amount of autonomy
in Khurasan, Iraq continued to be the center of Islamic
power. Two wares of Iraq found in Nishapur, luster ware
and finely made opaque white ware decorated in green
and blue, estabhsh that there was traffic in luxury goods
from west to east during the ninth and tenth centuries.
The prized Chinese wares may well have moved eastward
in this commerce.
The earhest of the Chinese pieces found in Nishapur
can be dated to the ninth century. Although no complete
vessel was found, their remains permit us to see that some
of the pieces were of no mean merit. Among the types dis-
covered were an ivory or cream white porcelanous ware;
a highly fired bluish white ware {chHngpai)\ T'ang mot-
tled ware, green on white, or splashed with bluish green,
purple, and yellow; and celadon. Of these types the one
chiefly imitated in Nishapur was the color-splashed. The
ivory and cream white porcelanous ware, widely and ac-
curately copied in Iraq in glazed earthenware, seems not
to have been copied in Nishapur, although some of the
copies were imported there from Iraq. The nearest that
the Nishapur potters came to imitating this ware was in
making inaccurate copies of the Iraqi adaptations. The
fact that fewer types of Chinese ceramics were imitated in
Nishapur, and in a less proficient way, supports the hy-
pothesis that the influence of the Chinese products was
first of all efiective in Iraq.
1 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Body semivitreous, the felspathic glaze a warm white, the
results of firing in an oxidizing atmosphere. Lip slightly
everted. Sole decoration: raised rays, fashioned by the ad-
dition of a little slip. This type of Chinese ware was also
imported into Samarra and copied there (Sarre, Die Kera-
mik von Samarra, pi. xix, no. 2).
2 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 4.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.614
Part of a thinly turned bowl with raised rays and an inden-
tation at the tip of each ray. Rim not everted. The white
body, highly fired, is porcelanous. Though not translu-
cent, it can, by some definitions, be considered porcelain.
The color, under the felspathic glaze, is a cool off-white.
Thickness of wall, no more than two millimeters. Origi-
nally a piece of exceptional fineness.
3 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Porcelanous ware, off-white. A single ray present, only
barely indicated. Rim slightly everted.
4 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.456h
Part of a thin, well-made T'ang dynasty bowl of the ninth
century. The wall is but four millimeters thick, the thin,
splayed foot ring seven millimeters high. The kaolin body,
though fired harder than usual in T'ang pottery, is not vit-
reous. The lead glaze, highly glossy and minutely crazed,
iridescent in patches, covers the interior, exterior, and
base. The white surface is heavily splashed with green and
has itself been faintly tinged with this green. The clearly
defined rays on the inner wall were produced by furrows
on the exterior, not (as in 1, 2, 3, 6) by the addition of slip
on the interior. This technique, common in the T'ang
256
Chinese Wares
period, is to be seen in celadon fragments found in Sa-
marra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xxv, no, 4),
The same technique occurs in pottery from the Yiieh site
on the Shang Lin Hu (Plumer, Ars Islamica^ IV, pp.
195-200).
5 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A bluish felspathic glaze covers a graffiato pattern, the
nature of which, because of the smallness of the fragment,
cannot be ascertained. Probably ck^ing paiwd^rc. For other
pieces of this ware, see 14, 15.
6 BOWL FRAGMENT
W at rim 4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.613
The raised ray is not sharply defined, but the indentation
in the rim is reminiscent of 2. The body is hard to the
point of being porcelanous. The felspathic glaze, a creamy
white, has eroded on the ray. The thickened glaze at the
rim is crazed. The thickness of the wall is four to five mil-
limeters, the customary measure. Most Islamic copies of
this kind of ware are also of this thickness.
7 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 5.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Porcelanous ware, ofF-white. Everted rim. It is likely that
the rim had no raised rays and that it was undecorated.
8 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 5.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.456f
1:3
One quarter of a Yiieh-type celadon bowl, olive in color,
of the ninth century. Perhaps from Shang Lin Hu. The
base is formed of a low foot ring two centimeters wide,
enclosing a small depression. The foot ring is glazed with
brownish red marks, and the base is tinged with red near
the outer circumference. Similarly colored marks appear
on the foot rings of celadon pieces from Samarra (Sarre,
Die Keramik von Samarra, pi. xxiii, nos. 13, 15; Bahgat 8c
Massoul, Ceramique musulmane^ p. 70, pi. liv, no. 2). In
shape, the base of 8 resembles that of the first of these
Samarra pieces. A piece of Yiieh ware with a base similar to
8, found at Ctesiphon, is in the Metropolitan (32.150.364),
A piece of white porcelanous ware with a similar base was
found in Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi.
XXIV, no. 2).
9 DISH FRAGMENT
W 6.5 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MMA 40.170.456g
An example of tenth -century three-color ware. The kaolin
is almost vitrified. The glaze has no crazing, is iridescent
in places, and has some deterioration and opacity. This
small dish is thickly potted, with the wall sloping gradu-
ally up from the central well. The well, only a few milli-
meters deep, is smaller in diameter than the cleanly turned
foot ring. Glaze splashed with spots of bluish green, pur-
ple, and brownish yellow. No glaze on the bottom of the
foot ring. Fired upright. An unusual piece on several
counts: three colors are present, manganese was em-
ployed for the purple, and the green is sharp, almost tur-
quoise. That the piece is an unusual Chinese one and not
an unusual Islamic one is clear from the kaolin body and
the fact that it was fired at a higher temperature than any
known piece of Abbasid pottery. Although the peculiarity
of the color is not truly indicative, the firing technique
is decisive.
10 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.456a
Porcelanous ware, the fragment revealing no decoration.
The grayish white body is covered with a felspathic glaze,
the surface color appearing a neutral ofF-white. Minute
crazing. Foot ring six millimeters high, vertical on the
outside, sloping on the inside. A Chinese piece with a
similar foot ring, the color slightly warmer, found in
Ctesiphon, is in the Metropolitan (32.150.241).
11 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.9 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MMA 40.170.456b
Exterior (illustrated) shows a dark greenish mottling, sug-
gesting that the ware was made to resemble moss agate.
The interior is a cold white. Fired to an extremely high
temperature, to the degree of becoming porcelain. The
felspathic glaze has a high gloss. Slightly everted rim. The
site does not seem to date later than the end of the tenth
century, but the uniqueness of the piece suggests a possi-
ble accidental inclusion in the finds, since this kind of
ware is not known until much later.
Chinese Wares
257
12 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 5.42 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
White porcelanous ware with incised patterns, small
curved nicks forming a background to a petallike design
of bolder and broader cutting.
13 DISH FRAGMENT (bottom)
D 6.7 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.274
Color-splashed ware of the T'ang dynasty. White body.
Well potted. The medallion, about two millimeters thick,
was molded separately and affixed on the bottom of the
dish by moistening the kaolin with a little water. The lead
glaze, crazed, is stained a warmish green with a few indica-
tions of yellow. It covers most of the decoration, wavering
indefinitely at the base, as is typical of T'ang pieces, leav-
ing a few areas uncovered. Also typically T'ang is the thin,
splayed foot ring, finished with a chamfer. The design in
the medallion consists of a coiled three-clawed dragon and
a jewel. Another example of a dragon on an applied me-
dallion is to be seen in R. L. Hobson, The George Eumor-
fopoulos Collection Catalogue of the Chinese^ Corean and
Persian Pottery and Porcelain^ London, 1925, I, pi. lxviii,
no. 492. Another bowl with an applied medallion on the
bottom is in the Islamische Abteilung, Berlin (Erdmann,
Berliner Museen^ P- 1^? fig- IS).
14 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 5.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.456c
Part of a chHng pai bowl of the tenth century. Fired to a
very high temperature in a reducing atmosphere; the fel-
spathic glaze, because of the presence of iron, has turned
slightly blue. The body has a sugary appearance. The
graffiato decoration on the exterior (not illustrated) con-
sists of a series of petallike shapes and, about three centi-
meters below the rim, a horizontal line. The narrow band
of the rim is entirely without glaze. Below this on the in-
terior is a band of chattered lines covered with only a trace
of glaze, as if glaze had been applied and then wiped off. In
China, bowls of this type were often fitted with copper or
silver rims ; there is no indication of such treatment here.
Ch'^ing pai bowls were often fired in pairs, one inverted
over the other, a collar being used to reduce the risk of
their losing shape in the intense heat.
15 BOWL FRAGMENT (bottom)
H 15.14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.456d
Even though they do not fit together, 14 and 15 are appar-
ently pieces of the same bowl. They have the same color
and the same graffiato decoration on the exterior.
16 BOWL FRAGMENT
Original D of base 7, H 4.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.456e
1:3
Grayish white porcelanous ware with a felspathic glaze
that does not extend over the base. The lip has been
thickened on the exterior. From its location, datable to
the ninth century. Resembles Chinese pieces found at Sa-
marra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ pi. xxiv, no. 2).
For a bowl of this ware, see Lindberg, Bulletin of the Mu-
seum of Far Eastern Antiquities^ 25, pi. 2a. A similar base
is illustrated in the same issue, pi. lb. Of this same ware
a fragment of a lid found in the Qanat Tepe had a bronze
pin passing through its peak:
1:3
17 EWER (?)
D of rim 6.2 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.455
This T'ang dynasty, ninth-century piece probably once
had two small loop handles and one larger one on the side
opposite a spout. The clay (not kaolin) body has burned
to a light buff. The lead glaze, finely crackled, is an indefi-
nite yellowish color in the light areas, a clear deep brown
ia the dark areas. A molded decoration added on the side
shows two confronted birds separated by feathery foliage.
A similar decorative motif occurs on a complete ewer
with a spout in the Eumorfopoulos Collection (Hobson,
The George Eumorfopoulos Collection Catalogue of the Chi-
nese^ Corean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain^ London,
1925, I, pi. LViii, no. 369); in fact these appliques seem to
be from the very same mold. Still another piece with the
identical design at the roots of the handles and below the
spout is in the Cleveland Museum of Art {Golden Anni-
versary Acqiiisitions Y^y^^biiion Catalogue, p. 265, no. 141).
The Cleveland ewer has been identified as stoneware, Wa-
cha-ping, Ch'ang-Sha, Honan Province, T'ang, 618-907.
For the identification of 17 and other pieces like it as
T'ung-kuan ware, see The Charles B. Hoyt Collection in the
Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, Boston, 1964, I, by Hsien-
Ch'i Tseng and Robert P. Dart, no. 110.
11
Alkaline-glazed Ware
and Its Molds
During the ninth and tenth centuries the glazed pottery
of Nishapur was made in many sizes and shapes and
decorated in many different styles. Nevertheless, all this
production had two things in common. One was the body.
No matter what color it acquired in the kiln, it was a
natural clay. The other was the glaze. Regardless of its
color or lack of color, the glaze always contained a high
percentage of lead. Sometime after the close of the
Samanid period, which in Nishapur was at the end of
the tenth century, the making of a new kind of ware
began. It is distinguishable from the old wares (the
making of which continued, though on a reduced scale)
in body, glaze, and prevaihng color.
The new body — white, gritty, and hard — was com-
posed for the most part of silica in the form of finely
ground quartz, with perhaps a slight admixture of clay.
The whiteness of this composed body was such that the
potters, hitherto depending on a white engobe for a
reflecting surface beneath a transparent colorless glaze,
could paint designs directly on the body. In cases where
the composed body was not sufiBciently white, an engobe
might be added, but this step was rarely necessary. The
new body had other appreciated quaUties. One of these
was its suitability for the production of thin-walled
vessels by means of molds, and this form of pottery
enjoyed great popularity. The new body was also well
suited to take the new glaze, which had alkaU, rather than
lead, as the main fluxing agent. An alkaUne glaze does
not fit a natural clay body well, but on the new gritty
body it penetrated and fused in a way that precluded
spaUing.
In the excavated pieces covered with colorless or nearly
colorless glazes it is usually quite easy to distinguish an
alkaline glaze from a lead glaze. The delicate soap-bubble
iridescence that marks the transparent lead glazes is not
to be seen in the alkaline; instead, unless the piece is
perfectly preserved, there is a partially opaque irides-
cence and often a pitting of the surface. When the alkahne
glaze is thick, it tends to have a fat, soapy appearance — -
a condition associated with the presence of borax. Borax,
the word coming from the Arabic buraq and the Persian
bureh^ was mentioned by Abu'l Qasim Abdallah in 1301
as one of the materials used by the potters of Kashan
(H. Ritter, J. Ruska, F. Sarre &: R. Winderlich, Oriental-
ische Steinbiicher und persische Fayencetechnik, Istanbul,
1935, p. 32). The alkaline glaze was prepared in a differ-
ent way from the lead glaze, whose ingredients were
simply ground fine, mixed with a httle water, and poured
over the vessel. Since alkaUne glazes contain water-soluble
ingredients, they are fritted. That is, the appropriate
materials, including borax, whiting, feldspar, and flint,
are melted down to form an insoluble glass. This mate-
rial, when ground, becomes the basis for the glaze (C. F.
Binns, The Potter's Craft, New York, 1950, p. 95).
The characteristic colors of the alkahne glazes of
Nishapur are hght blue, dark blue, and less often, purple.
A colorless or nearly colorless glaze was also manufac-
tured. Nishapur apparently did not make a green alkaline
glaze. The potters continued to use copper as a base, but
instead of producing a clear green, as it did with a lead
flux, the copper produced a hght transparent blue. In
Nishapur this blue was intense, surpassing that of a
similar glaze made in Rayy (Pope, Survey, II, p. 1625).
This was by far the commonest color associated with the
new technique. Second to it was a dark blue obtained
from cobalt — a base that had not been used before in
Nishapur despite the fact that it had been used in the
opaque white wares of Iraq, pieces of which were im-
ported to Nishapur. Manganese, used in this earlier ware
to produce a near-black pigment, mostly in underglaze
painting, was now combined with an alkahne glaze to
make a clear purple. The color yeUow appears rarely in
the alkahne glazes of Nishapur, and brown, never. The
colorless alkahne glazes were sometimes streaked with
dark blue radial hues. Other color variations were
achieved by painting in black, beneath either a colorless
259
260
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
or colored glaze. Occasionally the inside and outside of a
piece were glazed with different colors (4), In summary
it may be said that the variety in color achieved by sUp
painting in the lead-glazed ware of the Samanid period
was not equaled in this later ware. Furthermore, the ware
as a whole never reached the peak of excellence in Nisha-
pur that it attained in Kashan nor did it achieve the vari-
ety of decoration found there.
Although for the potters of the eleventh century the
hard white quartz body was an innovation, it was not
entirely a new invention. For example, it was not unhke
a body used in ancient Egypt, this one consisting of about
ninety percent sihca, the rest natron (A. Lucas, Ancient
Egyptian Materials and Industries^ London, 1934, p. 101 ).
Somewhat similar gritty bodies had been made in other
countries in the pre-Islamic period: Iraq, Syria, and
western (but not eastern) Iran. All of these were less
white than the Egyptian body — particularly so the gritty
yellowish body of the Parthian glazed pottery from Susa.
In the alkaline-glazed ware of Nishapur only large tiles
and thick- walled vessels show a comparable lack of white-
ness, and in these the body contains more natural clay
and sand and less white quartz.
The new body and glaze were also used by the potters
of Gurgan, Rayy, and Kashan. In Kashan the quartz peb-
bles, according to Abu'l Qasim Abdallah's account of
1301 (Ritter, Ruska, Sarre & WinderKch, Orientalische
Steinbiicher und persiscke Fayencetechnik^ Istanbul, 1935,
p. 35), were called shekar sang (sugar stone). This name
suits perfectly the fragments found in the excavations of
the kilns in Nishapur.
The new potting technique was practiced as far west
as Egypt (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ p. 23) and Syria,
where, at Raqqa, a considerable amount of lead seems to
have been added to the glaze, judging from the report of
J. Sauvaget {Ars Islamica^ XIII, pp. 31-45). Nishapur, or
at least Khurasan, appears to have been the easternmost
producer of the new ware, and with its development
there the once-close link between the potters of Nishapur
and those of Transoxiana was loosened.
It is possible that the ceramic revolution of the alkahne-
glazed ware was due to the efforts of Iranian potters to
copy the imported Chinese chHng pai ware, with its
white body and sHghtly blue glaze. The potters of Iraq
and Iran had successfully copied at least the appearance
of Chinese wares in the ninth and tenth centuries, so it
is not unlikely that this imitation was continued in the
eleventh century. Whereas Iraq excelled in the copies of
the earlier period, it was Iran that produced the finest
pieces later. As far as Nishapur itself is concerned, this
supposition of copying is supported by the finding of
several pieces of true chHng pai ware in the excavations,
some of them, perhaps significantly, in the kiln area. It
would, of course, be unsound to base a theory on these
finds, for experience in the digging of Islamic sites has
shown the danger of making deductions from chance
finds, from finds in areas that have been partially dug
before, and especially from finds in areas that in ancient
times were pierced and repierced with wells and sink-
away s. Nevertheless, considering the admiration of the
Islamic world for Chinese porcelain, the Chinese-imita-
tion theory is a plausible one. But, as with the wares of
the ninth and tenth centuries, the Iranian potters, includ-
ing those of Nishapur, having developed a ware that re-
sembled the Chinese originals in a superficial way, pro-
ceeded to develop the product in their own fashion. Of
none of the alkahne-glazed ware found in the excavations
could it be said that it attempted to truly copy Chinese
waxes.
Objects of many kinds were made in Nishapur in the
new ware: bowls, dishes, pitchers, jars, vases, lamps,
candlesticks, and even amulets. Their shapes are not, in
general, the same as those seen in the lead-glazed wares.
This was in part due to changes in taste. A new type of jar
was developed that is decorated with narrow vertical flutes
(11-13, 15, 19), and small near-spherical jars were manu-
factured to which the potter added dimples by pressing
in the wall either with his finger or a tool. This latter
practice was paralleled in the unglazed earthenware of
the eleventh and twelfth centuries (Group 12, 25). In the
glazed vessels dimphng affects the color, a deeper tone
occurring where the glaze gathers in the cavity (14). With
the introduction of this ware small lamps were sKghtly
changed in shape, their spouts being more closely pinched
than formerly (5, 9). A form of hanging lamp, hitherto
known only in glass, was now made (4). A new form of
candlestick was introduced : one with a high circular base,
open at the bottom, sloping in toward the top, and sur-
mounted by a socket (l7), the form as a whole derived
from metalwork. An uncommon type of vase with a very
wide rim, possibly used as a hand spittoon, was indubi-
tably made in Nishapur, since a waster of one was found :
1:3
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
261
Another innovation was a flower vase with orifices around
the top, though often these are in the form of supple-
mentary tubes that do not open into the body of the
vessel (24). Small three-footed shallow dishes were manu-
1:3
factured locally and were found in various sites; their
wasters were found by the kilns. A more potent reason
than taste for changes in shape may well have been the
introduction of molds. Little used in the tenth century,
these were now made in great number both for glazed
and unglazed wares. Their manufacture in Nishapur has
been estabhshed by the discovery of some of the kilns
that made them. It is possible to distinguish between
molds made for glazed and unglazed pottery not only by
where they were found — which was far apart — but by
the way in which they were made. Most of the molds
intended for unglazed pottery were shaped and then
imprinted with repeated impressions of small dies. Those
for glazed pottery, aside from a few in which the direction
was cut directly with a pointed tool (as it was, too, on
occasion in the group for unglazed pottery), were made
from master models. Such a model might be made either
of the same gritty material of which the ware itself was
made (66) or of wood (59). The molds were made either
of well-levigated natural clay (57) or a gritty composed
body (60, 6l) Uke that used for the ware itself. The dis-
covery of master models in Nishapur proves that molds
for glazed vessels were made there. It does not prove
that all the molds found there were locally produced. As
a result of Russian excavations in Turkmenistan (Puga-
chenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 2, 1958, pp. 78-91),
it is known that molds traveled from one town to another.
It is also known that the potter, who in some cases signed
his models, also traveled from one place to another
(Bahrami, Athar-e Iran, III, pp. 209-229). Two signed
molded pots found in Rayy are in the MetropoHtan
(62.227.1, 2).
One result of the use of molds was a great increase in
the production of small, almost flat, saucerlike dishes (33,
36, 37) and of bowls with extremely thin sides (l, 2, 18,
20, 35). None of these are easily made by simple throwing
and turning on the wheel. The bowls are sometimes fur-
nished with a flattened rim (38), and they usually have a
high foot ring, though this was never made so high or
thin as it was on vessels in Kashan. Bowls flare from the
base, usually with some convexity; 77 is a mold for this
type. For a signed jug of similar shape, possibly from
Kashan {Erickson Exhibition Catalogue, p. 28, no. 28) and
a bowl signed Hasan al-Qashani from Iran, see Medieval
Near Eastern Ceramics, fig. 13. It is the convex wall that
distinguishes the Nishapur product from that of Kashan.
The Kashan bowls were exported to Gurgan but not to
Nishapur, or only rarely so, a fact that underhnes the im-
portance of Nishapur as a ceramic center during the pe-
riod when her kilns were producing alkaline-glazed ware.
The practice of grafiiato decoration continued in the
present ware, but the patterns are less conspicuous than
in the older wares. This is because the scratched fine no
longer penetrates a white engobe to a darker body be-
neath, but to a body as white as the surface itself. The
scratched patterns show fairly well under a blue glaze;
under a nearly colorless glaze (37) they are hard to see.
In Nishapur the potters of this ware, unlike their prede-
cessors of the Samanid period, supplemented their grafli-
ato patterns with small pricked holes. (These filled with
glaze during firing and the vessel's serviceabihty was not
afiected.) The piercing of holes was done from the inside,
the process causing the exterior wall to flake (l). In
Nishapur this pierced work was never used except in
conjunction with grafiiato decoration, and it never devel-
oped into true openwork, a technique skillfully practiced
in Kashan (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery, pi. 39B). The
techniques of grafiiato and piercing advanced to a certain
point in Nishapur and then progressed no further.
Still another development in the new ware was the cut-
ting or carving of designs, as an alternative to scratching
them. Some of the simpler designs, consisting of bands of
alternating depressed and raised areas, were perhaps even
made with a roulette (33). The depressions in others were
more Hkely individually cut out (42, 52), and they almost
certainly were carved when the patterns were elaborate
fofiations (35). In some cases the efiect of cutting or carv-
ing is the result of this technique used on the master
model (66) or on the mold made from such a model (65).
This decoration in rehef is sometimes on several levels.
In 65, for example, the background is most deeply cut,
the major decoration less deeply, and the embellishments
are on the shallowest level. Despite the complexity of
this type, the designs cut on a single level, or at most on
two levels, are the most masterly.
The decoration to be seen in the alkahne-glazed ware
difiers in several ways from that of the older wares. The
foliation has the pecufiarities of its time : the exaggera-
tions of the tips of the leaves are greater than in the lead-
glazed wares. There is a greater use of circular stems to
enclose fofiage or flowerfike forms. Inscriptions are now
set against backgrounds of deKcate fofiations that are
sometimes made Hveher by the introduction of birds and
animals. Naskhi writing is now commonly used, though
Kufic continues. The small disparate decorative motifs so
262
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
common in the lead-glazed wares, especially in the buff,
are now entirely absent. The decoration may consist of a
simple geometrical pattern, or it may be entirely of leafy
forms. There may be a contrast of motifs, one dominant,
one subordinate, such as human beings, animals, or letter-
ing against a foliate backgroimd. The subordinate mate-
rial, however, is always drawn in an orderly, consistent
way. The fohations grow over the background, for exam-
ple, as ivy grows on a wall. The division into quadrants
so popular in the Samanid period, and even in the luster
phases of the lead-glazed wares, seems to have no place
in the present ware as made in Nishapur. The ornament
of curUng stems with added spots (16) differs in form
from this ornament in the buff and other lead-glazed
wares; the ornament closely resembles the Arabic letter
J {wau\ with interspaced spots. The connections be-
tween this group and the preceding wares are few indeed.
One parallel worth noting occurs between 50 here and 24
in Group 8, where the curled-up leafy details have a good
deal in common; see also 63 in Group 9. CalHgraphy
seems to play a less important role in the alkaUne-glazed
than in the lead-glazed wares. Even when it is a dominant
motif (58), it is placed on a ground that vies for attention.
The East Kilns, where alkaline-glazed ware was made,
were roughly circular in plan, and they were domed. The
interior wall was furnished with specially made bricks
with a circular hole in the face, intended to receive and
hold an earthenware baton. These holed bricks were
placed in horizontal rings around the chamber: three
rings in the large kilns, two or one in the smaller ones
(Figure 17, page xxxviii). The sun-dried pieces to be
fired were placed on the shelves formed by the protrud-
ing batons. Some seem to have been wedged in place
with pats of clay; others were placed upon clay stilts,
three-pronged stands with upturned tips (71). Other
pieces were placed in saggers, roughly made earthen-
ware containers. The use of saggers in Nishapur was an
innovation accompanying the introduction of alkaHne-
glazed ware. Sometimes the saggers were made in the
shape of the vessel or vessels to be placed in them; as a
result, when the glazed vessels collapsed, as they some-
times did, they stuck to the saggers like a skin (76). Pieces
of broken saggers seem to have been another kind of sup-
port for wares stacked in the kilns (73).
The kilns were fired through an egg-shaped orifice
near the base, accessible to the potter at the end of a
narrow trench. Some of the kilns, built in pairs, were fired
from either end of a single trench. The firing hole led to
a central pit in the kiln in which the fuel was placed. This
was probably bofeh^ a thorny plant that burns with a
fierce flame and is used today in Persian kilns. In a large
kiln the firing pit had a benchhke addition at the bottom,
the purpose of which is now unknown.
Between the rim of the pit and the dome was a flat
space, wide enough to have shafts sunk in it. In one case
one of these shafts had broken into the fuel pit and had
been sealed. The purpose of these shafts is no longer
known; perhaps they gave the potter means to regulate
his fire. The space between pit and dome appears to have
been much narrower in the kilns at Kashan (Bahrami,
Atkar-e Iran^ III, figs. 141-143), and in the kilns at
Gurgan this feature did not occur at all (Bahrami, Gurgan
Faiences^ pi. 10).
Close by the kilns in Nishapur were the potters' work-
shops. In their ruins were found molds, master models,
and related fragments. Some of these indicated the manu-
facture of wares superior in quality to any that were
recovered from the kilns.
We come now to the problem of dating the alkaHne-
glazed ware. In one of the shafts of the large kiln were
found three silver coins, one struck with the name of
Mas^ud I, the Ghaznavid (reigned 1030-41) and two with
the name of Cahph al-Qasim (1031-74). Allowing for a
lapse of time after minting, the coins suggest that the
kilns were operating at the end of the eleventh century.
But, as noted earher (Introduction, page xxvi), contrary
to the assumptions of many writers who report on Islamic
excavations, such finds yield httle precise information,
and these three particular coins do not help us to know
when the alkahne-glazed ware was introduced into Nisha-
pur or where or when it was first made. More helpful
here is the circumstantial evidence that Nishapur was a
very important place under Toghril Beg, the Seljuqid,
who made it his capital in 1038, having the public prayer
said in his name. In 1055 Toghril Beg had his name pro-
nounced sultan in Baghdad. During the next twenty
years his Seljuq empire extended until it included not
only the whole of Iran and Iraq but western Asia up to
the frontier of the Byzantines and the Fatimid cahphs in
Egypt. This surely was the period in which this new
ware was developed and spread so widely. It is perhaps
significant that Nishapur is the easternmost city of impor-
tance where the ware was made — ^with the possible
exception of Merv. In view of the fact that the Seljuqs
had trouble keeping control of Transoxiana, no matter
how dominant they were in the west, and more particu-
larly because Nishapur was on the eastern rim of this
empire, it is doubtful that the new ware, despite the
excellence of some of the pieces found there, originated
either in Nishapur or elsewhere in Khurasan.
The complete absence of certain kinds of superior
alkahne-glazed wares known to have been made in
Kashan — such as the best pierced ware with its masterly
drawing of arabesques and plaited bands, a simple type
with bold radiating stripes, and luster ware, except for a
few fragments — gives ground for speculation. It seems
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
263
improbable that Nishapur was so enamored of its own
wares that it had no desire to import from Kashan, and,
as we know that Gurgan did import a great deal of these
wares and Nishapur did not, a probable reason would be
that it was financially crippled by the earthquakes of the
twelfth century. One problem that seems difficult to
explain is that despite the fact that molds of superior
quaUty exist, such as 57, 58, which could conceivably
have been imported from Kashan. Few such fine molds
were found in Nishapur. The absence of such pieces may
also indicate that the areas excavated, including the East
Kilns, were destroyed, not by the Mongols in the second
decade of the thirteenth century, but by the disastrous
earthquakes of 1145, and that subsequent to the quakes
and the sacking in 1153, these areas were completely
abandoned.
The excavations at Nishapur at least give no evidence
that the ware was manufactured there earher than the
eleventh century. Even then, the second half of the
century would be the more hkely. This is interesting in
that it has been claimed (Shelkovnikov, Sovetskaya Arkheo-
logiya^ 1, 1958, pp. 214-227) that this glazed "faience"
with a hard body, and a related ware with a soft white
body (both wares apparently covered with an alkaline
glaze) were manufactured at Dvin and Ani in Armenia
in the tenth and eleventh centuries, before the coming of
the Seljuqs. There is considerable resemblance between
some of these pieces and those of Nishapur, but also suf-
ficient dijflFerence to show that they were not made in one
place. The early date advanced for the Armenian ware is
not impossible, though in my opinion unlikely. Nonethe-
less, Armenia seems a more likely place of origin than
Khurasan. Rayy may also be in the running, but so far,
in spite of the excavations undertaken there, precise in-
formation on this point has still not come to light. As for
Kashan, this center that achieved such excellence in alka-
line-glazed ware has been woefully neglected in the mat-
ter of actual controlled excavation. At present nothing
from there can be reUed on as being of positive evidence
of manufacture in the eleventh century. As to Nishapur,
it seems likely that the alkaHne-glazed ware was made
there in the latter part of the eleventh century and
throughout the twelfth.
1 BOWL
D 18.2, H 8.8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.188
1:3
Gritty, pure white body consisting largely of powdered
quartz. Clear bright blue alkaline glaze derived from cop-
per base. Mold-made, the piece very thin. The sides,
slightly convex, taper to a small base. The high foot ring is
unglazed. Around the wall, a band defined top and bot-
tom by a pair of rings. Within it, swags filled with loosely
drawn floral patterns alternate with a U-shape. The deco-
ration was first incised, then pricked, the pricking causing
flaking on the exterior surface. The pricked holes are
filled with glaze.
The shape of the bowl is common in this ware but rare
in the lead-glazed wares, occurring there only in bowls of
the eleventh century (Group 9, 51). The incising and
pricking technique is common in the alkaline-glazed ware,
being used even in poorly made bowls (50). The swaglike
design was probably first used in the yellow-tinted lead-
glazed ware not before the end of the tenth century, more
probably in the eleventh (Group 8, 3). The shape of 1
appears in bowls of other sizes, some of which were col-
ored pale yellow :
1:3
2 BOWL
D 19.4, H 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Gritty white body, clear bright blue glaze. From the base,
which has a foot ring, the sides flare widely to form a large
bottom, then rise nearly vertically. On the exterior near
the rim are two circumscribing grooves, a feature not
found in the lead-glazed wares of Nishapur, This is the
only decoration.
264
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
3 DISH (minor restoration)
D 16.15, H 4.4 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36.20.13
1:3
Gritty white body, clear bright blue glaze. Mold-made.
Base has a foot ring. Sides flare out almost horizontally.
Flat rim. Slight circular depression on bottom. Decora-
tion: a degenerate Kufic inscription, the letters extending
downward from a pair of circumscribing lines near the
rim. Because the piece was stacked at an angle in the kiln,
the glaze has pooled on one side, there obliterating the
decoration. On the exterior the glaze extends most of the
way to the foot ring, ending in a thick ridge. Fragments
of molds that made dishes of this shape were found in the
kiln area. Such dishes were decorated in various ways,
some simply with circular bands of indented squares (55,
52) or crisscross lines. Similarly shaped dishes found at
Rayy are glazed a lighter, less brilliant blue than those of
Nishapur.
similar shape, with spout added, were made in Iran in the
twelfth century (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery^ pi. 38A).
5 LAMP
H 10.2, W 8.3 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.19
Gritty white body, bright turquoise blue glaze. Piece con-
sists of a vertical-sided circular dish from which rises a
column upon which the lamp is placed; a straplike handle
connects the body of the lamp to the rim of the dish. The
form is essentially that of many lead-glazed lamps of the
earlier Samanid period but different in the more emphatic
pinching of the spout to hold the wick. In the alkaline-
glazed lamps the sides of the spout almost touch. Lamps
such as this were made in great number in Nishapur, some
with a light blue, others with a dark blue glaze, some with
a decoration painted in black beneath a colorless or blue
glaze. Not earlier than eleventh century, A related form
of lamp was also made in Afrasiyab, with the peculiarity
of having an extra ring handle at the top (Stoliarov Photo-
graph 5, row G, nos. 4, 5, page 368). No such lamp was
found at Nishapur,
4 LAMP
Original D 21.6, H 16.8 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
1:3
Gritty white body. Exterior and interior glazed bright
blue, bottom purple. Two purple streaks on the interior
wall are possibly accidental. Spheroidal shape with flaring
neck. Slight ridge at collar. Base has foot ring. Originally
there were six vertical loop handles for suspension pur-
poses. The lamp was made without a cylindrical wick
holder. However, such wick holders were incorporated in
glass lamps of the ninth century excavated in Nishapur,
one of which (study fragments) is in the Metropolitan.
4 was found in a location indicating late eleventh or
twelfth century. AlkaHne-glazed pitchers of somewhat
6 DISH
D 8.2 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Gritty white body. Dark blue glaze, the coloring agent
cobalt. Circular well, flat rim. No decoration. Found with
7. Another type, of which many examples were found, is
furnished with three feet and lacks the projecting rim.
It was made in great quantity with either a turquoise or
dark blue glaze.
1:3
7 MINIATURE POT
D 5.5 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Spheroidal body with small, high base, short neck, mouth
the width of the base. Clear blue glaze. Decoration: a
rough scalelike pattern painted in black beneath the
glaze. Found with 6. Even smaller pots of this type were
found, some no more than three centimeters in diameter.
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
265
8 DISH
D 9 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Gritty white body, dark blue glaze. Mold-made. Base has
foot ring. Bottom and wall decorated as a many-petaled
rosette. Flat rim decorated with a braid.
9 LAMP
L 8 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.126
Gritty white body, clear blue glaze. Tightly pinched spout
(compare 5) and small ringlike handle so placed that it
does not project above the rim. Both these features typical
of the late eleventh and the twelfth century. Nishapur
lamps of the ninth and tenth centuries (Group 9, 14-16,
18, 19) have open spouts and large loop handles that rise
above the rims. Lamps similar to 9 were also made with
a handle sticking up like a small horn.
10 LID
D 19, H 13.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Gritty white body. Clear light blue glaze. Mold-made.
Above the vertical sleeve, which is unglazed, a horizontal
flange, undecorated. Above the flange, a vertical collar
decorated with a cable in low relief. The conical area
above this is decorated with curling stems from which
grow small leaves, the stems ending in pointed palmettes.
Above this (and below the missing knob), a band of short
radial ridges. Twelfth century. A waster of a similar lid
(54), found at the kilns that produced this ware, confirms
that lids with relief decoration were locally manufactured.
12 JAR
H 15.7, D 15.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.163
1:3
Gritty white body, covered inside and outside, except foot
and base, with green-tinged blue glaze, crackled. Sides
flare to greatest width not far above the foot ring, then,
flattening into flutes, taper upward to a short plain collar
and projecting lip. A less common shape than 11. The
two thin horizontal loop handles attached close beneath
the lip may have served for attaching a lid, but more prob-
ably were for suspension purposes. Handles of this type
were also attached to lead-glazed cylindrical jars (see
drawing, page 229). The blackening of the crackle sug-
gests that 12 once stored oil.
13 JAR
H 14.2, D 11 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.293
Gritty white body, covered inside and outside, except for
foot and base, with dark blue glaze. The color was pro-
duced by the introduction of cobalt. Paneled, slightly
flaring sides. Except that it lacks a groove on the shoulder,
a smaller version of 11. Made in Nishapur.
11 JAR
H 20, D 14.3 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MMA 37.40.18
Gritty white body, covered inside and outside, except foot
and base, with transparent light blue glaze, crackled. The
sides, decorated with shallow flutes, probably made by a
thumb or fingertip, flare slightly as they rise to the high
shoulder, which is marked with a groove. The neck nar-
rows upward to a projecting lip. The glaze has formed
irregular thick blobs on and near the foot ring. Jars of
this shape, made in Nishapur, were common in various
sizes. Jars resembling them were also made at Rayy and
perhaps at Gurgan. For an example from Afrasiyab, see
Stoliarov Photograph 1, row B, no. 6, (page 366).
14 JAR
D 6.3, H 5.4 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36.20.34
Gritty white body, brilliant blue glaze. Glaze covers inte-
rior but extends little more than halfway down the
exterior. Flat base, high foot, spheroidal body, small
collar, projecting round lip. Decoration of vertical tool-
made indentations around the waist. Such small pieces
were made in great number in Nishapur, perhaps at the
end of the eleventh century, certainly in the twelfth.
Some of them were adorned with circular indentations
made by a fingertip instead of a tool, an interesting, sim-
ple, and highly effective form of decoration. This fashion
of dimpling is also to be seen in the unglazed ware of the
same period (Group 12, 25, 39, 64).
266
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
15 JAR
H 7.3, D 6.3 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 36.20.33
Gritty white body, covered inside and outside with clear
blue glaze, crackled. Flat base. Sides, flattened into verti-
cal planes, curve upward to high, plain shoulder. Rounded
projecting lip.
16 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 31 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Not the usual gritty white body, instead a natural clay
that has burned buff. Concave base. White engobe, black
painting under clear blue glaze. Rim decorated with line
of spots. Flaring wall decorated with crosshatched pear-
shaped forms enclosed within strongly outlined forms
(originally six in number) of similar shape. The inter-
vening areas are filled with thin curling lines adorned
with irregular leaflike additions. In the center of the bowl,
enclosed within a ring, some curved, tapered strokes,
some with divided ^Hails," resembling fish. Twelfth cen-
tury. The pear-shaped forms on the wall were popular
on early thirteenth-century luster bowls of Kashan, elabo-
rated with stems and dotted borders (Bahrami, Gurgan
Faiences^ pi. LXl). The crude leafy forms on the curling
lines resemble those on luster wares of Rayy made in the
late twelfth century or beginning of the thirteenth (Pope,
Survey, V, pis. 631 A, 636 A,B, 637 A). They had been
preceded in Nishapur by a superficially similar decora-
tion in the buff ware, in which the ^'leaves" generally ap-
peared in conjunction with small V-shapes (Group 1,
34, 42, 43).
17 CANDLESTICK
D 30, H 19.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.107
Gritty white body, black underpainting, clear blue glaze.
Hollow underside of piece glazed but undecorated. Body
in form of a truncated cone. Studded with rosette knobs,
molded separately, then affixed, a ceramic echo of the
bosses to be seen in twelfth- and thirteenth-century metal-
work (Pope, Survey, VI, pi. 1321). Here, their presence
is emphasized by their being painted black. Painted be-
tween the knobs, a more careful version of the leafiike
decorations seen on 16. Some of the forms show the little
projecting strokes that occur in generally similar decora-
tions in luster painting of the late twelfth and early thir-
teenth centuries (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery, pi. 54G).
This candlestick is probably of the same period.
18 DISH
D 14, H 6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Gritty white body, turned very thin. High, neatly made
foot ring. Clear blue glaze inside and outside, except for
\
^ 1:3
foot and base. Decoration in underglaze black. Inter-
weaving straps divide surface into seven circles. These,
bisected by a narrow bar, are filled with curling forms.
A heavy line is painted around the rim. Decoration on the
exterior consists of groups of three vertical lines. Probably
end of twelfth century or early thirteenth. A more elabo -
rate version of the strap and circle decoration occurs on
a Kashan bowl dated 1214 (Lane, Early Islamic Pottery,
pi. 84B).
19 JAR
H 14, D 7.6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Gritty white body. Transparent blue glaze. Clearly defined
foot, sides shallowly fluted, tapering neck, projecting lip.
The alternate flutes are colored black, the coloring con-
tinuing up the shoulder and neck. In shape close to 11
and 13, Made in Nishapur. Fragments found in the
vicinity of the kilns that produced such pieces showed
other combinations such as blue and white flutes or black
and white. A number of bowls decorated in blue and white
stripes, possibly imported from Kashan, were found at
Gurgan (Bahrami, Gurgan Faiences, pi. xiii), but no such
bowls were found in Nishapur — a fact very hard to explain .
20 a,b BOWL
D 10.9, H 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Gritty white body, light blue glaze over dark blue paint-
ing, the dark blue derived from cobalt. The flaring convex
wall rises from a foot ring. On the bottom, a motif based
on a cross consisting of four pear shapes, each containing
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
267
a central spot, the spots connected to one another by an
outcurving semicircle. Four trifoliate forms are spaced
around the wall. A band painted at the rim has run
irregularly. No decoration on exterior. Found in an area
occupied until the end of the twelfth century and perhaps
a little later. Probably late twelfth century.
21 BOWL
D 20.3, H 8 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.14
Gritty white body. Clear, strong blue glaze, crackled. On
the exterior the glaze stops short of the foot ring, ending
in a thick ridge, as in many examples of this ware. Shape
of bowl hemispherical, with everted lip. Underglaze paint-
ing in black. Four panels of pseudo inscription encircle
the wall. These have little resemblance to Arabic and are
perhaps closer to Hebrew. Compare pseudo inscription
on 24. The form of writing has some relation to the fanci-
ful treatment of Arabic lettering seen on a piece from
Samarra (Excavations at Samarra, 1936-1939^ II, pL
Lxxviii) . On the rim of 2 1 are groups of three black blobs
(originally there were four groups), an ornament occur-
ring on other bowls of this ware (22, 34). Probably
twelfth century.
22 BOWL
D 13.8, H 9.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.3
Gritty gray body, black underpainting, clear blue glaze.
The base has a foot ring. Shape of bowl hemispherical,
lip not everted. Decoration: four radial lines crossing at
center and groups of three blobs at rim (for the last,
compare 21, 34). Exterior undecorated, with glaze stop-
ping short of foot ring. Bowls of this shape and with this
simple decoration were made in quantity in Nishapur
during the twelfth and into the thirteenth century. The
best-made ones, and perhaps all of them, .were fired in
saggers. The kiln in which they were made was not that
in which the molded and pricked vessels (1, 50) were
1:3
1:3
made. Some examples, including another from Tepe
Madraseh, are somewhat deeper and undecorated; others,
also undecorated, are shallower, for example, one from
the Village Tepe with dark blue glaze.
23 JAR
H 13.3, D 15.3 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 36.20.47
Gritty white body, black underpainting, clear blue glaze,
crackled. Glaze covers inside and outside, stopping well
short of base. Body flares from definitely marked foot ring
to high shoulder, then slopes to neck that tapers to a flat
projecting rim. On the neck, between encircling lines, a
poorly drawn cable pattern (compare cable on 10). The
shoulder is decorated with boldly drawn open circles, the
spaces between them filled with irregular curves dotted
with circular spots, an ornament reminiscent of 16. The
edge of the shoulder is marked with indentations. From
an encircling line below the shoulder vertical strokes of
black extend toward the base; the ends of some of these
strokes project beyond the limit of the glaze.
24 VASE
H 15.3, D 15 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Gritty white body, black underpainting, clear bright blue
glaze, crackled. Globular shape with clearly defined foot
ring. Rim flares slightly from collar marked by groove.
Three decorative projections rise from shoulder to level
of rim. Such excrescences are common on Islamic vases.
Sometimes, though not in Nishapur examples, they open
into the vessel's interior. On the shoulder, a pseudo
inscription showing little resemblance to Kufic (compare
.21). Made in Nishapur: fragments of similar vases of finer
quality were found in the East Kilns area.
25 LAMP
H 11.4, D 10.1 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36.20.16
Natural clay, fired red, light turquoise blue glaze. Has the
closely pinched spout typical of lamps in this ware (com-
pare 5, 9). On the column, just below the upper attach-
ment of the handle, a projecting ring, the lamp's only
decoration. Not earlier than eleventh century. Another
lamp of this general shape, found in the Village Tepe, is
268
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
in the Teheran museum; it has an open spout rather than
a pinched one and it is decorated on the sides with a
pair of animal horns in low rehef.
26 BOWL
D 25, H 10.9 cm ; Village Tepe
Discarded
glaze (in poor condition) covers interior and exterior, on
the latter to an uneven line above the foot. Two circum-
scribing grooves, one at the shoulder, the other at the
collar of the high, wide neck. The handles attach to the
body just below the lower groove. Three of them join the
neck halfway up; the alternate handles, surmounted by
thumbknobs, attach further up. Probably eleventh or
twelfth century.
1:3
Natural clay fired red, opaque turquoise blue glaze,
crackled and spalled. Much iridescence, indicating that
the glaze contains a fair amount of alkali. Walls flare to
an outcurving rim. The spalhng (compare 32) is due
entirely to the incompatibility of the alkahne glaze and
natural body. In extreme cases in this ware the glaze
''crawls" and forms islands, a defect erroneously described
in a report on the excavations at Ctesiphon as imitating
mosaics (Berlin Museen, Die Ausgrahungen der Zweiten
Ktesiphon-Expedition, Winter, 1931/32, fig. 43). Several
variations of 26 were found, some with more convex
profile, others of more complex shape:
1:3
gBj_
1:3
27 SIX-HANDLED JAR
H 25, D 17.4 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.292
Natural clay fired red with buff surface. Greenish blue
28 PITCHER
H 15.3, W 13.2 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
Discarded
1:3
Natural clay fired pinkish. Turquoise blue glaze. A poorly
made piece of a shape that was never left unglazed. Groove
on shoulder, vertical neck, projecting lip, plain handle.
The second drawing shows another shape of pitcher from
the same site ;
1:3
29 JAR
H 18, D 16.8 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Natural clay fired red, turquoise blue glaze. So poorly
fired that it can almost be considered a waster. High
shoulder, vertical neck, everted lip. Circumscribing groove
and three curved lugs (two visible in the illustration) on
shoulder. Lugs such as these figure in Islamic pottery
from the ninth century on; they are also found in the
opaque yellow ware and the opaque white ware of Nisha-
pur (Group 6, 26, drawing; Medieval Near Eastern Ceram-
ics, fig. 2). Eleventh or twelfth century. The drawing is
of a very similar jar, but with yellow instead of red body,
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
269
1:3
light blue glaze, and narrow vertical collar, found at Sabz
Pushan.
30 THREE-HANDLED JAR
H 25, D 25 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Natural clay fired pinkish, turquoise blue glaze. Globular
body with pronounced foot, vertical neck with slightly
everted lip. Small, plain handles on shoulder, ridge at
collar.
opening into a top with pinched spout. Found near the
surface of a shrine that was in use until the thirteenth
century. Both location and glaze suggest twelfth century.
Although the shape does not seem to occur in the lead-
glazed wares of the ninth and tenth centuries, it was very
popular in the eleventh and twelfth and was used both
for vessels' with a natural body, as here, and a composed
gritty body (56).
33 ajb DISH
D 14.6, H 2.5 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 37.40.21
1:3
Gritty white body, transparent colorless glaze, crackled.
Mold-made. Base has foot ring, sides flare almost hori-
zontally, rim is flattened. Decoration consists of a band of
square depressions near the rim plus five radial streaks
of blue. Dishes of this shape and with this glaze (36, 37)
were made in quantity in Nishapur.
31 DISH
D 18, H 8 cm ; South Horn
MIB
Coarse reddish clay, spotty light blue glaze, considerable
iridescence. Glaze covers interior and most of exterior.
Sides flare widely from small base; vertical rim. This
shape, occurring in both the alkaline-glazed and lead-
glazed wares of Nishapur in the tenth and eleventh cen-
turies, had long been popular in the Near East (Debevoise,
Parthian Pottery^ pi. vi, fig. 1). This type of ware was
made locally, since examples of it were found at the kiln
1:3
site. The drawing is of a similar piece from the Village
Tepe.
32 PITCHER
D 15.6, H 24 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.76
Natural clay fired red, uneven light blue transparent
glaze, mostly spalled (see comment on this process at 26).
Pear-shaped body with clearly defined base ; narrow neck
34 BOWL
D 14.7, H 9.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 37.40.2
Gritty white body, transparent glaze with greenish blue
tinge, probably the result of cobalt in the painted decora-
tion. Base has foot ring. Rim, flattened, projects beyond
the convex wall. Decoration: four groups of triple black
blobs (compare 21, 22). A similar but shallower bowl or
dish with five groups of triple black blobs came from the
1:3
high level of Tepe Madraseh. Another bowl from Tepe
Madraseh, its glaze like that of 34, decorated with black
rays and isolated spots, lacks the everted rim of 34:
1:3
35 BOWL
D 16.6, H 8.6 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Gritty white body, colorless transparent glaze inside and
270
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
outside, extending only to base on outside. Probably
mold-made. Walls very thin. Base, hollowed out to form
a foot ring, is higher than those to be found in the older
lead-glazed wares of Nishapur. Silhouette of bowl almost
parabolic. Band of decoration on the wall, probably
carved, consists of an undulating stem from which grow
leafy forms, the band defined by double circumscribing
lines. Background cut away very shallowly. Several radial
streaks of dark blue have been added in the style of 33,
37, 38. Many fragments of such bowls were found, the
number suggesting that they were made locally.
36 DISH
D 14.5, H 5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Gritty white body, practically colorless glaze, crackled.
Mold-made. Base has foot ring. Decoration : a few streaks
of dark blue. Flat dishes such as this (and 33, 37) were
made in quantity in Nishapur.
39 DISH OR PLATTER FRAGMENT (waster)
W 13.2 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.293
Not the usual gritty white body but gray, probably a
mixture of clay and fine sand. Part of a large mold-made
vessel with thick wall and substantial foot ring. The glaze,
greenish blue, has crackled and turned reddish in places
from reduction in the kiln. Underglaze painting in black.
Decoration in very low relief, parts of it reinforced by
painting. The upper band consists of a Kufic inscription,
the lower, graceful leafy forms combined with animals.
Probably twelfth century. The kiln that produced this
waster was not discovered.
40 JAR FRAGMENT
W 5.8 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Gritty white body, dark blue glaze, crackled. Mold-made.
Thin wall, everted lip. Decoration: a Kufic inscription
against a ground of delicate conventional foliage.
37 DISH
D 19.5, H 4.2 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MMA 38.40.178
Gritty white body, nearly colorless transparent glaze,
crackled. Mold-made. Foot ring. Incised decoration
around the wall: an undulating stem from which grow
curling leaves; circumscribing lines above and below this.
Five radial streaks of dark blue added. One of many such
dishes (compare 33, 36) made in Nishapur.
38 BOWL
D 23.5, H 10.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Gritty white body. Transparent, faintly blue glaze with
slight crackle. Probably mold-made. Base has a foot ring.
Body hemispherical. Flat, everted rim. Incised decoration
on wall : a broad band of leafy forms enclosed by double
circumscribing lines. Five radial streaks of dark blue
added. Stacked at a tilt in the kiln ; glaze pooled off-center.
A fragmentary bowl found at Ani, in Armenia (Shel-
kovnikov, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 1, 1958, p. 226, fig. 10),
is similarly decorated inside, but the exterior has a petal-
like decoration in relief that is unknown in the Iranian
versions. The Armenian ware has been dated by B. A.
Shelkovnikov as tenth to eleventh century. The tenth-
century dating, were it based on solid evidence, would
indicate that the ware was first made in Armenia before
the Seljuq period.
41 JAR FRAGMENT
W 7.8 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 40.170.542
Gritty white body, dark blue glaze. Mold-made. Very thin
wall. Everted lip. Decoration: a Kufic inscription against
foliage similar to that of 40, with the addition of birds,
some which have human heads. The latter, commonly
called sirens or peri^ are identified in a miniature painting
in a didactic work of 1341, Munis al Ahrar fi-Daqa^iq
al-Ash^ar^ as houris. They appear in a Nishapur mold
(60) that was also found at the East Kilns. These are the
earliest examples of such figures found in the excavations
at Nishapur, and neither piece can be dated before the
twelfth century, wherefore the statement by M. Bahrami
{Gurgan Faiences^ p. 104) that the earliest occurrence of
human-headed birds in Nishapur is on a brick of the ninth
century seems without foundation. Human-headed birds
of the early tenth century are to be seen in the decoration
of an Armenian church at Akhthamat (Sakisian, Ars Is-
lamica, VI, p. 82, fig. 27).
Although the human-headed bird appears frequently
in Islamic art, the concept was other than Islamic, for it
was common in the art of western and Central Asia for
many centuries. (For ah instance in the seventh-century
wall painting at Varaksha in Transoxiana, see T. Talbot
Rice, Ancient Arts of Central Asia^ London, 1965, p. 97,
fig. 80, taken from Russian sources.)
The motif was very popular in the art of the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, both in the Seljuq empire and in
Fatimid Egypt. It is portrayed in various forms and identi-
fied by various names, such as anga^ hahri^ and murgh-i-
Alkaline-glazed Ware and lis Molds
271
adamL The head is sometimes male, sometimes female.
(For further data, see E. Baer, Sphinxes and Harpies in
Medieval Islamic Art^ Jerusalem, 1965.)
42 DISH FRAGMENT
W 8 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Gritty white body, bright blue transparent glaze. Decora-
tion: two incised circumscribing lines near the rim, be-
neath which are shallow vertical gouges. A common type
of dish in Nishapur, made with various glazes : light blue,
dark blue, and colorless.
43 JAR FRAGMENT
W 7 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 40.170.543
Gritty white body, transparent blue glaze outside and
inside, black painted decoration on outside. Vessel had
a globular body and upright rim. Black band on the lip,
a thin encircling line beneath this, a row of spots, and a
thick line at the collar. The decoration on the shoulder is
too fragmentary to reconstruct. No piece with similar
decoration was found.
44-48 PENDANTS
W of 46, 6.1 cm ; East Kilns
46, 48, MIB
44, 45, 47, MMA 38.40.256, 7, 8
Gritty white body, brilliant transparent blue glaze. Mold-
made. All have a loop at the top for suspension. Such
rosettelike ornaments, made in vast number in Nishapur
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, were probably con-
sidered jewelry by those who were unable to purchase
actual turquoise. Perhaps, also, they were thought effec-
tive against the evil eye — the eye being first attracted to
the bright color rather than to the person whose neck
they adorned. Lightning conductors, as it were, for the
powers of evil. The wearing of such rosette ornaments
would seem to be a continuation of a custom going back
to the second millennium B.C., if not earlier, the ancient
ornaments often being of thin gold (Herzfeld, Iran in the
Ancient East^ p. 145, fig. 261, pi. xxx).
49 BOWL
D 10.3, H 5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.177
Gritty white body. Thin, translucent wall. Glaze has slight
blue cast. A single streak of blue on the exterior. Vessel
otherwise undecorated. Deeply concave base with sharp
edge. A projection of the glaze disturbs the bowl's balance.
The translucence of the body suggests an imitation of
Chinese porcelain.
50 BOWL (waster)
D 11, H 5.25 cm ; probably East Kilns
MIB
Gritty white body. Bright blue glaze. Small base with foot
ring. Decoration consists of a six-pointed star bounded
by two circumscribing grooves near the rim. The triangles
between the points of the star are filled with incised,
roughly drawn leafy forms, some of whose lines are
pricked with dots (compare 1). Many dishes and small
bowls with decoration of this kind were found. Some,
unlike 50, had everted rims, with the decoration placed
in an encircling band near the rim. This particular kind
of foliation is also to be seen on fragments of a large
lead -glazed bowl (Group 8, 24), discovered in a late-
period area of Tepe Madraseh, that may or may not have
been made in Nishapur. The same foliation appears on a
fragment in the monochrome ware (Group 9, 63),
Bowls similar to 50 but with a pale blue glaze appear
to have been found at Dvin, Armenia, where they have
been dated to the tenth and eleventh centuries (Shelkovni-
kov, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 1, 1958, pp. 214-227, fig. 6).
51 FRAGMENT
H 5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA study piece
Gritty white body. Colorless glaze with added streaks of
blue. Part of a thin-walled mold -made vessel, decorated
with animals. An additional pricked decoration is now
barely visible because of disintegration of the glaze. In
the Teheran museum is part of a similar but larger bowl
on which lions followed one another against a background
of conventional foliage.
52 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 6.7 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Gritty white body. Colorless glaze with added streaks of
dark blue. Mold-made. Decoration : two incised lines near
rim, below which is a pattern of rectangles in low relief,
an elaboration of the decoration on 33.
53 RIM FRAGMENT
H 5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA study piece
Gritty white body. Colorless glaze with added blue
splashes. Mold-made. Decoration: Kufic lettering on a
pricked ground.
272
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
54 LID FRAGMENT (waster)
H 7.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 40.170.578
Gritty grayish white body. Nearly colorless glaze with
soapy appearance. This fragment indicates that ware of
good quality was made in Nishapur. Mold-made. Deco-
ration, in low relief: scrolling stems with leafy forms and
palmettes growing from them. Compare 10.
55 PITCHER (?) FRAGMENT
H 7.4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.548
Gritty white body. Nearly colorless glaze. Mold-made.
A male figure, perhaps a musician, seated cross-legged,
enclosed in a multicusped medallion. The ground is
pricked, the holes filled with glaze. For the placing of
such figures at intervals around the body of a pitcher in
the unglazed molded ware, see Group 12, 166.
56 PITCHER (waster)
H 18.2, W 12.2 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 40.170.529
Gritty body, originally white, discolored in kiln. Frag-
ments of similar pitchers found in the area indicate that
it would have had a turquoise blue glaze. Pear-shaped
body with narrow neck and pinched spout. Short, undec-
orated handle. Base has foot ring.
Popular in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, this
shape was also used for pitchers with a natural clay body
covered by an alkaline glaze that spalls badly (32). A
pitcher similar to 56 in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(Beach, Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts^ LXIII,
p. 109, fig. 8) has been ascribed to Raqqa but probably
came from Nishapur.
A spouted vessel with globular body and, probably, an
annular handle, was made in this ware in Nishapur :
1:3
57a MOLD FRAGMENT
H 16.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.5a,b
57b5C modern cast
Smooth, hard, reddish clay. One side of a two-piece mold
with vertical join, for making the body of a ewer or vase,
according to the potter's wish. The decoration, in three
registers, is divided by encircling bands. Principal deco-
ration, top register: an Arabic inscription in Naskhi; too
few letters remain for it to be intelligible. In the central
register several human figures appear against a back-
ground of elaborate curling foliations, for the most part
delicately drawn. In the bottom register, animals, per-
haps jackals and lions, are drawn with considerable spirit.
The central register is of the greatest interest as the
partially depicted scene illustrates a literary subject —
that of Farhad and Shirin. (The subject was identified by
Dr. Glavira Shepelova of the Hermitage Museum on the
basis of her knowledge of a recently excavated, more
complete piece found at Hauz-khan.)
Occupying most of the center are two seated male
musicians and a standing female, perhaps a dancer, who
appears to be holding crotala in her hand. One of the
men plays a stringed instrument, the other a reed instru-
ment. All wear headdresses furnished with lappets over
the ears. Such lappets were not new in Iranian art; they
were depicted in Parthian times and were also common
in Central Asia. All of these figures have haloes, the tops
of which coincide with the tops of their heads. This
arrangement, contrary to Western versions, is common in
Iranian art of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth cen-
turies. The remaining part of this register shows a horse
with lowered head. Below the head is a man's booted foot
resting on the register's lower band. Above the horse's
head, projecting into the top register, is a human head,
tipped forward and interrupting the inscription. This
head is also enclosed in a halo. Dr. Shepelova has described
the subject of the Hauz-khan mold (excavated between
Merv and Sarakhs) as that of Farhad carrying his beloved
Shirin, the wife of Khusrau, over the river as the story is
related by Nizami in his poem, one of the Khamsa^ written
in A.H. 571 (a.d. 1175/76). (The Hauz-khan piece is dis-
cussed in an article by G. N. Balashova, ^Tottery pitcher
of the 12th- 13th century with epic scenes," Kultura i
Iskusstvo Srednyaya Aziya i Iran, Sbornik statei, Leningrad,
1972, pp. 41-106).
As Browne says in his Literary History of Persia^ it
seems likely that Nizami and Firdawsi, who also wrote of
the story of Khusrau and Shirin in the Shah-nama, but
not in an identical way, drew their subject matter from a
common source. Connection at an early date of ceramic
decoration with themes that are embodied in literary
form is interesting — ^for it is something entirely new in
ceramic art. It is known In minai ware, of which there are
examples in the twelfth century of Khusrau and Shirin
(Pope, Survey^ V, pis. 664, 672), and also, on an early
thirteenth -century cup in the Freer Gallery (38.3), of the
story of Bizhan Manizhe from the Shah-nama (Pope,
Survey^ V, pi. 660 B). The scenes on this beaker were
first recognized as illustrating a story from the Shah-nama
by M. M. Diakonov {Hermitage Museum: Works of the
Oriental Dept.^ I, pp. 317-325) and were fully described
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
273
by G. D. Guest in Ars Islamica^ X, pp. 148-152.
There is a distinct possibility that the molded ware
preceded the minai ware in date. In any case, we now
know that such subject matter was not confined to those
elaborately painted pieces, but appeared also on alkaline-
glazed molded ware. The background of the Farhad and
Shirin scene with the musicians, as described above, con-
sists of very elegantly drawn foliations arranged in curling
forms, almost circular in places, although not in the repe-
titious way so common in metalwork of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Included in the foliations are elabo-
rate palmettes with emphasized curling tips, typical of
Ghaznavid and Seljuq art. Also included in the back-
ground are birds, one with long curling tail feathers.
They are drawn without the mannerism that typifies the
generally comparable birds seen in Kashan luster painting
of the thirteenth century. These molds, however, are of
the preceding century. Despite the duplication of the
Farhad and Shirin motif and a similar background of
curling foliations, some differences of style can be noted
between the mold found at Hauz-khan and the one found
at Nishapur. Making allowance for the poor condition of
the Hauz-khan example, it is still noticeable that the qual-
ity is somewhat coarser and that no birds appear on it.
There is another piece from Nishapur that has a back-
ground with foliations and birds (66). It is a master model
and must be considered of local manufacture; the work is
artistically inferior to that of the pieces under discussion.
Nonetheless, there are a number of molded glazed vessels
that have a close relationship to this mold. Among them
is a ewer in the Metropolitan of very similar shape, deco-
rated with a horseman whose haloed head is depicted
against a similar background (Wilkinson, Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin^ May, 1959, p. 239, below); the
resemblance is heightened by the presence of a band of
Naskhi above the main scene. Also in the Metropolitan,
reputedly from Nishapur, is a tankard, related in its main
decoration — a Naskhi inscription (Wilkinson, Iranian Ce-
ramics^ pi. 44). Birds, a small curled-up deer, and a peri
with a human face appear on a foliated background. The
tankard is encircled beneath the inscription by a guilloche
pattern that is similar to one on a pottery fragment found
in the excavations (82). A further example of such delicate
foliations is to be seen on a cup of uncertain origin in the
Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (ibid., pi. 43) ; here they
serve as background to a series of animals. Whether this
cup was made in Nishapur or, more probably, in Kashan
cannot be determined on present evidence alone. A jug or
tankard with foliations parallel to those of 57 is in the
Erickson collection {Erickson Exhibition Catalogue, p. 15,
fig. 27). That glazed molded pottery with background foli-
ations was made in Kashan as well as Nishapur is certain,
as two deep bowls, each with an octagonal top, apparently
the work of one man, are signed Hasan al-Qashani {Medi-
eval Near Eastern Ceramics, fig. 13; Erickson Exhibition
Catalogue, p. 28, no. 28), and it is not at all impossible that
this particular type of mold was imported into Nishapur.
58 a,b MOLD FRAGMENT
H 16.6 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.6a
58c Modern cast (glazed)
Smooth huffish clay. Part of a two-piece mold with vertical
join, for making a ewer with pear-shaped body. The
exterior (58a) has lugs that were used to fit the edges of
the mold properly together. At the neck (58c) is a band
of decoration consisting of circular medallions formed by
interlooping lines. Within the medallions are birds in
pairs, looking away from the center. Beneath this band,
a deep band of knotted Kufic against a ground of foliations
with exaggerated curling tips. Well proportioned, the
lettering resembles, but is more elaborate than, Kufic
seen in the polychrome on white ware of slightly later
date (Group 4, 14). Knotting in Kufic lettering was also
popular in Iranian architecture early in the eleventh cen-
tury, for example, in the tomb of Radkan, of 1020/21
(S. Flury, Islamische Schrifthdnder-Amida-Diarbekr^ Basel,
1920, pi. xiv). In this example the fiUing of the back-
ground with small foliations is missing; it is present in
the stonework at Amida, of 1155/56 (ibid., pi. xiii). Thus
far no vessels from Kashan with the elaborated Kufic of 58
have been found. Its place of manufacture must remain
uncertain.
59a MOLD FRAGMENT
b Detail
W 10 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.8
Smooth reddish clay. Probably for the production of a
large hexagonal bowl. Decoration: a row of human figures
side by side, two of them opposed, wearing draped cos-
tumes and high boots. The areas left as background
between the feet are filled with small foliations. Marks on
the clay (59b) can be recognized as the grain of the
wooden master model from which the mold was made.
The folds in the drapery, made by curved lines graved
across the grain of the wood, have characteristic jagged
surfaces on one side. A related fragment, also from a
polygonal mold, found in Nishapur after 1947 and now
274
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
in the Teheran museum, shows complete figures with
similar costumes and boots.
57 and 59 suggest the range of quality in Nishapur's
molded ware; 57 would have produced a piece with
sophisticated and subtle design, 59 a crude, compara-
tively plain piece.
60 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 9.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.7
Gritty white body. Decoration: two poorly drawn human-
headed birds, their bodies back to back, their heads facing.
Their tails crossed, they stand on bent stems, surrounded
by conventional foliate forms in a circular medallion. The
beginning of another medallion adjoins it. For the identi-
fication of these birds as houris, see 41.
61 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 15 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
1:3
Gritty gray body. For decorating the entire top surface
of a shallow dish with steeply sloping sides and a flat,
projecting rim. The rim has repeated die-stampings of a
heart shape. The side is fluted. The bottom is filled with
an elaborate design of foliage and animals, including the
front part of a horned animal and the hind leg and tail of
a fox (?). Vessels of this shape were not made in Nishapur
in the ninth and tenth centuries. Used in Nishapur in the
twelfth century, the shape became popular elsewhere in
the thirteenth. For its use in the pottery of Kashan deco-
rated with underglaze painting, see Ettinghausen, Ars
Islamica^ III, p. 66, fig. 24; for its use in Kashan luster
ware of the early thirteenth century, see Pope, Survey^ V,
pi. 708. The discovery of 61 invalidates an earlier assump-
tion that this shape was exclusively of Kashan.
62 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 7.4 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Smooth reddish clay. Part of a two-piece mold for a small
cup with everted lip. Decoration: a Kufic inscription on
a ground of small palmettes. A fragment of another mold
in which Kufic was the principal decoration had a two-
strand braid on the neck:
1:3
63 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 9 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.32
Smooth reddish clay. Part of a two-piece mold with hori-
zontal join for making the upper portion of a hexagonal
dish with foot. Molds such as this (see also 59, 68) enabled
the potter to get away from the circular shapes natural for
wheel-thrown pieces. Decoration: round-bottomed pan-
els side by side, one plain, one fluted, a dot in the space
at the bottom of the flutes.
64 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 10.5 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Smooth reddish clay. Part of a two-piece mold with verti-
cal join for a cup or vase with everted lip. At the top, a
band of Kufic against a ground of foliate patterns includ-
ing palmettes. Beneath, a band of large palmettes. The
lower portions are composed of highly elaborated leaves.
The upper end of one terminates simply, as a normal
palmette; the upper end of the other becomes an inverted
trefoil from the top of which another trefoil grows up-
ward. In the spaces between these large palmettes are
small ones, pointing down. In the Teheran museum is a
fragment of a related mold from the same location; this
has an inscription at the top in foliated Kufic. The small,
down-pointing palmettes in the lower band of 64 are
similar to ones occurring in unglazed molded pottery
found in the kilns of Merv (Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya
Arkheologiya^ 2, 1958, p. 85, fig. 10, upper left), a center
that does not seem to have produced alkaline -glazed
molded pottery.
65 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 7.4 cm ; near East Kilns (surface find)
MIB
Reddish clay. Decoration: a Naskhi inscription against a
foliate ground. In the center, amid the foliations, a small
bird. The lettering resembles that seen on 57. Found at
no great distance from the East Kilns, whence it probably
came.
66 a,b,C MODEL FOR MOLD
D 15 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.9
Gritty white body. The fragments are incorporated in a
modern body. The fact that there is no sign of a structural
division, either vertically or horizontally, indicates that
this is a model, not a piece cast in a mold. It also follows
that this piece and others of a yet simpler nature (59, 63,
68) were locally made. The upper portion, which tapers
sharply toward the rim, is decorated with clumsily drawn
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
TJ5
lions in procession. Their bodies are adorned with con-
ventional foliate forms ; bands of short strokes have been
added to the bodies and faces. Two of the lions are sepa-
rated by a foliate form composed of three elements, the
outer ones pear shaped, the center one projecting upward
to form a point. Decorated with bands of short strokes,
these elements rest upon two horizontal leaves that
emerge from a common stem. The background is filled
with leafy forms and a bird, all rather coarsely drawn.
The lower portion of the piece is fluted, an indication that
metalwork was the inspiration for the design.
67 MODEL FOR MOLD (fragment)
H 7.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.10L35
Gritty white body. Above a circumscribing band, palm-
ettes end in extravagant curls within elaborate scrolling
stems. As in 66 there is no trace of a join in either direc-
tion, confirming that this is part of a model, not a piece
cast from a mold.
68 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 6.3 cm ; near Tape Alp Arslan
MMA 32.20.10
Smooth reddish clay. Upper part square, lower part
hemispherical, pierced by a central hole. Probably for the
production of glazed pieces shaped like Group 12, 159.
The mold is decorated by direct incision with a pointed
tool. Encircling the hole at the bottom is a line of Kufic
inscription, the tops of the letters pointing down. Since
the writing has been incised in the proper direction here,
it would have produced mirror writing. The upper edge
of the hemispherical portion is inscribed with a series of
S -curves. The transitional space between the hemisphere
and square is decorated with an open heart. Although
little remains to indicate the decoration of the square
portion, it would seem that each side would have pro-
duced a projecting form with a rounded bottom. This
form and the adjacent panel are scratched with simple
diaper patterns. The flat edge of the mold is pierced with
a circular hole. Drops of greenish blue glaze on this piece
suggest that after it was broken, the fragments were used
in a kiln as supports.
69 POT FRAGMENT
D 14.7 cm ; East Kilns
MIB
Gritty yellowish clay. In the bottom, quartz pebbles stuck
together with traces of bright blue copper-based glaze.
Many similar vessels were found containing such pebbles,
some bound with dark blue cobalt-based glaze, some with
colorless glaze. No specimens were found with purple
glaze, even though this glaze was used in Nishapur (4).
70 LUMP OF GLAZE
D 20.5, H 5 cm ; East Kilns
Portion in MMA 48.101.47
A portion of 70 is in the Teheran museum. Alkaline glaze
with copper base; turned liver color with bright red
streaks because of reduction in the kiln. The lump shows
the shape of the vessel in which it was made.
71 STILT
W 10,2 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.22
Reddish core, gray surface. Used for stacking vessels
within one another in a kiln. Such devices, their shape
unchanged for millennia, are still used today. The three
upturned tips, in contact with the vessel, leave bald spots
in the glaze when the stilt is broken off after firing. Many
Nishapur vessels of the Samanid period, thus marked on
both bottom and base, show that they were nested during
firing.
72 STILT
W 8.5, H 6.9 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.20
Red body, yellow surface. Used in kilns that produced
alkaline-glazed ware. Blue glaze from the vessel it sup-
ported melted and ran down to form a pool between the
points. The shape of the stilt seems to have been a com-
mon one in Nishapur.
73 SUPPORT
W 14 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.31
Buff core, yellowish surface. Of a type commonly used in
the manufacture of alkaline-glazed ware. In the form of a
shallow bowl made of coarse earthenware. A pat of clay
added on top for stabilizing purposes. Streaks of light
blue and dark blue glaze have run toward the "rim."
Such a support was probably necessary to bridge the
earthenware batons that were inserted in the wall of the
kiln. It is not improbable that this object and others like
it began as a sagger or a mold and was used in this fashion
after breaking. The drawing is of a similar piece used in
1:3
an inverted position as a support; the streaks of glaze
are indicated.
276
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
74 FRAGMENT OF SAGGER AND BOWLS
W 13,5 cm ; Kilns near shrine of Muhammad Mahruq
MMA 40.170.689
Sagger: coarse greenish earthenware. Two bowls: white
gritty body with light blue glaze over radial strokes of
black. See 22. The drawing is of a sagger of entirely dif-
ferent shape, containing the remains of a turquoise blue
vessel :
1:3
75 SAGGER OR MOLD FRAGMENT
East Kilns
MIB
Another portion of this piece is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish core, buff surface. Flaring sides, inturning rim,
flat base. The word Allah is roughly incised inside, pre-
sumably for good fortune in the kiln.
76 FRAGMENT OF SAGGER AND BOWL
W 8.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.30
Sagger: gritty greenish clay. Bowl: white composed body,
manganese-based purple glaze. Bowl has collapsed on
sagger so that it is like a skin.
77 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 3.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.33
1:3
Another fragment of this piece is in the Teheran museum.
Gritty white composed body. For the production of shal-
low convex-sided bowls with everted rim. The aperture
at the bottom was for the addition of a foot.
78 BOWL FRAGMENT
H 7, W 7 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.42
Another fragment of this bowl is in the Teheran museum.
Hard white composed body, clear blue copper-based
glaze. Lower part of vessel unglazed. Probably mold-made.
Sides nearly vertical. Flat, everted rim. Decoration: flutes
topped with an incised semicircle, an incised circumscrib-
ing line halfway down the wall.
79 PITCHER OR VASE FRAGMENT
W 8.2 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.40
Fine hard white composed body, clear bright blue glaze.
Probably mold-made. Thin wall. The upper part of the
vessel is decorated in relief with foliations growing from
a narrow encircling stem, the lower part with a series of
wide stripes in relief. The relief areas are painted black
beneath the glaze. A related fragment in the Metropolitan
(40.170.546) suggests that similar vessels were decorated
with stripes alone.
80 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 17.5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.16
Gritty white composed body, clear bright blue glaze. The
shape, with widely flaring sides ending in an almost verti-
cal rim, is similar to one used in the lead-glazed mono-
chrome ware (Group 9, 33). The decoration, carved,
consists of a broad band, bounded above and below by
two closely placed lines, within which two broad vertical
stripes alternate with a budding curling stem, ending in
a flowerlike form. In Nishapur bowls of this shape were
also made of coarse earthenware covered with an alkaline
glaze.
81 PITCHER OR BOWL FRAGMENT
W 6.7 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.549
Fine hard white composed body. Mold-made. Thin wall.
Colorless glaze, crackled, with dark blue (cobalt) splashes.
Decoration: a Kufic inscription with a small foliate design
in lesser relief forming the background. Beneath this, a
braid of three double strands.
82 BOWL FRAGMENT
W 5 cm ; East Kilns
MMA 48.101.38
Another portion of this fragment is in the Teheran
museum. White composed body, clear pale blue glaze,
crackled. Mold-made. Very thin wall. Decoration: a
diaper of hexagons, each of which has a small central
boss surrounded by four pierced holes.
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
277
Alkaline- glazed Ware and Its Molds
23
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
283
284
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
57a
64
65
288
69
Alkaline-glazed Ware and Its Molds
12
Unglazed Ware
To many, the unglazed earthenware of the early Islamic
period seems less important and less interesting than the
glazed. This is perhaps to be expected, since it has not
the variety of color and decoration that the glazed wares
have. It is for the most part a humbler product, often
intended for lowly purposes and generally not made by
the most skillful potters. Even though the ware occa-
sionally stirs an aesthetic response, its chief point of
interest is probably its revelation of certain aspects of
Hfe that are neither described in early Islamic literature
nor, in view of the almost total lack of contemporary
painting, portrayed pictorially.
Unglazed pottery formed a large part of the total finds
at Nishapur, but this should not suggest that the produc-
tion made up for any deficiencies of the potters who made
the glazed wares. The distinction between the two types
in Nishapur is not merely an economic one, with the
unglazed dupUcating the glazed at lower cost and in
poorer quaHty, true though this was on occasion. The
chief difference is that of function. Unglazed earthenware
was used, as to a lesser extent were metal and stone, for
cooking vessels, but an even greater function for this
ware was the storing of water, as opposed to other liquids.
(The porosity of unglazed pottery makes it unsuitable,
obviously, for the storing or serving of milk, wine, or oil.)
The ware was of fundamental importance to Nishapur,
for it was by its aid that potable water reached the city
and was stored and consumed there. The larger forms
used in the making of sinkaways and pits in dwellings and
the qanats, or underground aquaducts leading from the
mountains, are not dealt with in this study. The subject
here is the ware in the form of storage jars, cooking ves-
sels, large pitchers in which water was stored in every
dwelling, and small pitchers from which it was drunk.
The pitchers had the virtue in a hot, dry land of keeping
water cool by evaporation — a virtue recognized in the
Near East for millennia. Most of the smaU drinking ves-
sels were provided with handles, doubtless because of the
wetness of the body surface. These handles account for
the fact that the tapered ^^tumbler" shape is rarely found
in Iranian earthenware, even though it is quite common
in Iranian glass. Although such glasses were occasionally
filled with water, they were used chiefly for the drinking
of wine (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin,
January, 1943, p. 183). In the unglazed ware practical
aids sometimes became an excuse for decoration; for ex-
ample, the thumbstops placed on the handles of drinking
cups and small ewers. As was the case in Egypt (E. W.
Lane, An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Mod-
ern Egyptians, London, 1871, p. 187), it is possible that
Nishapurians with well-appointed dwelHngs used un-
glazed pitchers during the warm months and glazed
pitchers (which would not lower the temperature so
much) during the cold months.
The unglazed ware was also made to serve a wide
variety of other purposes in the form of lanterns, lamps,
candlesticks, flowerpots, containers for coins, and toys.
It was also used in the construction of fireplaces, both for
the pot that contained the charcoal and the pipe that
introduced the air (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin^ June, 1944, pp. 285-286). In still another
aspect, the ware was made into molds and dies for the
production of pottery itself, unglazed as well as glazed.
AU in aU, one may get a broader insight into the life
that was lived in Nishapur from its unglazed rather than
from its glazed wares. Furthermore, once one looks be-
yond the utiUtarian considerations, it will be seen that
many of the unglazed vessels have considerable beauty of
form. As in the glazed wares, there is a wide range in
quaHty, some examples showing that the potter was skill-
ful, others that he was careless. Some of the vessels are
well proportioned and suggest at the same time the ut-
most practicabiHty; others are ill shaped and could
hardly have been adequate to their purpose. Generally
speaking, the relationship of form and use is closer in
this ware than in any of the others. For example, a
beaker (35), although it has Uttle interest for the eye, is
made in a simple functional shape that has not changed
for centuries. Yet even though many simple things Hke
this beaker remain remarkably the same, as soon as deco-
ration is added (and the people of Nishapur,- Uke people
everywhere, seemed to have wanted at least a Httle deco-
290
Unglazed Ware
291
ration on most objects), there is usually some detail that
enables us to identify the time and place of manufacture,
even if only within broad limits. Unglazed ware has cer-
tainly been made in the Nishapur region from prehistoric
times to the present day, but here we are concerned only
with that made from the ninth century through the first
two decades of the thirteenth. It is not possible to relate
this ware to the unglazed ware of Sasanian Nishapur and
to that made during the first century after its conquest by
the Arabs. It is possible that a few of the excavated pieces
were made a few years earlier or later than the Hmits just
given, since neither styles nor habitations have a way of
coinciding with the beginnings of centuries or decades.
However, the excavations made it possible to arrange at
least a broad sequence of shapes and styles over the four
hundred or so years, and to reach some conclusions as to
what was locally made and what was imported. Much of
the study was based on the similarities and, conversely,
the difierences between the unglazed and glazed wares.
With two exceptions, sites of the Idlns that produced the
unglazed ware were not found.
The ware varies greatly in color, depending in part on
the clay itself, but also on technicahties of firing: degree
of heat, amount of oxygen, smoke, and the like. Bricks
and the large loops used in making the qanats are gen-
erally yellow. In the majority of the pieces presented here
the core ranges from yellow to a strong red, the surface
tending to be bufiF. The clay used for porous containers,
especially thin-walled storage and drinking pitchers, is
generally reddish or buflBsh with a greenish gray or
greenish bufi" surface. Where porosity was not wanted,
as in certain bottles (109-117), the ware was fired at a
very high temperature, turning the clay dark green or
even greenish black. Among the vessels and fragments
found, a few were of a bluish gray clay. The rarity of such
pieces means that they probably were imports. A similar
bluish gray clay was found in the unglazed ware exca-
vated by the Metropohtan at Qasr-i-abu Nasr.
Of the various means employed to make unglazed ves-
sels attractive to the eye, the least common was painting.
This was occasionally done in red and black (ll2), more
often simply in black (55). A commoner treatment was
chattering, achieved by letting a loosely held tool bounce
off the leather-hard surface of a vessel as it turns on the
wheel. In some Nishapur wares the chattering is uninten-
tional, the result of unskilled potting. In the present
ware, however, the chattered ridges and rills were re-
garded as an asset and, paradoxically, as the mark of a
skilled potter. Chattering appears most often on the
shoulder of pitchers (14, 22-24, among others) but may
also occur lower on the body (5).
The commonest kinds of decoration involved scratch-
ing, pricking, stamping with a die, marking with a rou-
lette, and molding. The first three of these techniques
were sometimes used individually for simple efi'ects, but
in many pieces they were combined. Pitchers of the ninth
and the early tenth century were commonly given simple
incised decorations on the collar. Some of these were
made while the vessel was rotating on the wheel, either
with a single point, sharp or blunt, or with a comb having
two or more tines, which tool was used to produce a
variety of wave efi'ects (14, 21, 25, among others). Even
the single point, used on a turning vessel, could produce
Unes of considerable variety; particularly popular was the
wavy groove produced by a blunt point (12, 14). In the
tenth century the patterns tended to be more elaborate
on the neck as well as on the collar. Patterns made while
the vessel was turning were often supplemented by graf-
fiato decorations scratched when it was stationary. These
include leafy forms and Kufic inscriptions. In produc-
tions of the twelfth century, the scratched patterns were
more elaborate. Interwoven bands became popular. These
sometimes appear on a pricked background (43), such
pricking, as metalworkers were also aware, being a simple
way to give "color" to an unpainted surface. Pricking
was usually employed in conjunction with scratching;
only on a few Hds (47) does it account for nearly the
entire decoration. The graffiato decorations made with a
fine point appear in general on smaller pieces, those made
with a blunt point on larger. The most elaborate example
of decoration made with a blunt point occurs on some
fragments of a storage jar (107, 108); here the incised
patterns are combined with a die-stamped decoration.
Certain other techniques were employed only rarely.
One such was the piercing of the clay wall. This might be
done by a simple cutting or poking, as in certain hds (49,
51), or with finesse, as in a Hd of better quality (50), or a
lantern (52), the perforations of which had a practical
purpose. Another comparatively uncommon treatment,
fashionable in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, was
dimphng; this was done on smaU vessels (25, 39) as well
as large (64); the technique also occurs in the alkaline-
glazed ware (Group 11, 14). A technique rarely encoun-
tered in Nishapur, although it was practiced in Iraq as
early as the second millennium B.C., was that of affixing
plaques, bearing molded or stamped designs, to the sur-
face of vessels. Such plaques were found on only a few
storage jars (105). The barbotine technique, in which a
paste of clay is apphed to a vessel to form its decoration
in rehef, does not seem to have been practiced in Nisha-
pur in any major way, popular though it was in Iraq,
especially in the twelfth century.
The use of molds in the making of unglazed vessels
became common in Nishapur late in the eleventh century
or in the twelfth and seems to have continued until the
end of the period we are concerned with. Several molds
292
Unglazed Ware
were discovered in the excavations. All of these seem to
have been made in Nishapur. (For comment on the
exportation of molds, see page 261.)
The mold technique enabled the potter to imitate the
metalworker, who could produce raised patterns by ham-
mering. The potter was also, by means of his molds, able
to manufacture a large number of similar objects, no
matter how lavishly decorated, with a minimum of effort.
To carve an elaborate and well-drawn design on the con-
cave surface of a mold would have been a formidable
task, as is evident in a few crudely decorated pieces in
which this seems to have been attempted (148). The
potter avoided this difficulty by making earthenware dies,
each one to produce a component of his design: a rosette
(144), knot, palmette, animal, even a human figure. The
typical designs, accordingly, combine repetitions of sev-
eral different motifs, some of the combinations showing
great ingenuity. When the potter wished to include an
inscription among such stamped repetitions, he probably
drew it directly on the wall of the mold (161, 162, 165).
The principal method, stamping, differs from that used
by the potters who made alkahne-glazed wares in molds.
Those potters, although they too occasionally carved a
mold directly, produced their molds from master models
(Group 11, 66, 67).
The molds for the unglazed ware were usually hemis-
pherical, consisting of a lower and an upper piece. The
lower piece, ordinarily shallower than the upper, tended
to be more simply decorated. The casts from these molds
were joined by a bond of liquid clay. As a result of this
joining the design is often damaged (162, 163, 166,
among others), and at best there is an unattractive plain
band (164). A similar indifference to the spoihng of the
decoration at the join is found in the alkaline-glazed
ware.
Dies were not only used for the making of molds ; they
were used to make impressions directly upon wheel-
turned vessels (62, 116). This method of decoration was
an ancient one, not invented in Nishapur. Stamping, to-
gether with Hnear pricked decorations apparently made
with a roulette, was sometimes combined with treatments
such as cutting (lOl).
Unlike the practice in Egypt (where a large percentage
of unglazed drinking vessels was made in one place,
Qeneh, because the clays were particularly suitable there),
any town of size in Iran produced its own unglazed ware.
But then Egypt as a country consisted essentially of the
margins of the Nile, that great transportation artery. The
quality of the ware in Iran would have had to be superior
indeed for its diffusion to occur on a comparable scale.
The luster ware produced in Kashan in the thirteenth
century traveled widely; the unglazed pottery produced
anywhere in Iran did not. Thus, the unglazed ware of
Nishapur is on the whole readily distinguishable from
that of other centers. Some uncertainty can be attributed
to the fact that unglazed drinking vessels and the hke
would have been carried by travelers, providing thus a
degree of "importation." However, among the thousands
of pieces and fragments of pieces that were found in the
excavations, the imports were comparatively few.
Most of the pieces are pitchers or are pitcherhke. The
many small one-handled vessels were probably intended
as drinking vessels ; they are here called drinking pitchers.
The larger vessels, although they may have been used for
drinking, were more truly for storage. Whatever their size
and purpose, few such vessels were made with spouts.
Pitchers and jars with small mouths were less common
than those with large ones, even though the smaller open-
ing would tend to admit fewer foreign bodies; such
pitchers and jars were the containers from which the
drinking pitchers would be fiUed. Some of them were
provided with earthenware covers, either domed or con-
cave and usually pierced. Entirely absent from the finds
were the pierced clay diaphragms incorporated in the
necks of Egyptian water jugs. This absence seems a httle
strange, inasmuch as such diaphragms were found at
Merv, albeit with only simple perforations in place of the
elaborate, often superb patterns of the Egyptian devices
(Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 2, 1958, p. 82,
fig. 6, left).
It may be helpful to summarize the developments of
form in the Nishapur pitchers. The bodies of those of
the ninth century are usually divided into two or three
zones of different shape (3, 5, 6, 7). Such vessels, instead
of having a distinctly defined base, have the bottom
pushed up sUghtly, forming a depression that keeps the
piece from wobbhng on a flat surface. This ninth-century
custom of pushing up the base, instead of its being thick
and clearly indicated, appears to be pecuhar to this time
and to Nishapur itself. In several of the shapes there is
a resemblance to eighth-century pieces from Khirbat al
Mafjar and Ramla, as well as from Iraq. It might be said
however, that the shapes are further developed in Nisha-
pur than elsewhere and that the technique is superior.
The decoration is of the simplest kind, consisting of
chattering or some vertical or horizontal strokes made
with a blunt tool. It is possible that the vertical strokes,
even though they amount to Httle more than a burnishing,
are a survival of the grooves that are so common in the
Parthian pottery of Iraq (Debevoise, Parthian Pottery^
pL m, fig. l). More Hkely they are a survival of the partial
burnishing to be seen on Sasanian earthenware, as exem-
phfied in the finds at Qasr-i-abu Nasr. Another feature
of many pitchers of the ninth century is an almost spheri-
cal body with base often left flat (8). These pitchers
usually have necks that are tall and wide in comparison
Unglazed Ware
293
with the width of the vessel. A common detail in this
type is a projecting collar at the base of the neck, single
(12) or multiple (lO). When not left plain, such collars
are decorated with a bold wavy Hne or a group of parallel
wavy Hues. The bodies of the pitchers are sometimes
chattered, sometimes rubbed in the horizontal direction.
Pitchers with these round bodies were made both large
and small, the former to serve as true pitchers, the latter
(8, 11, 15) as drinking vessels. This type was occasionally
glazed (Group 7, 15). Neither kind of pitcher so far
described has a thumbknob on its handle. In Samarra in
the ninth century the thumbknob was common; in Nisha-
pur its use seems not to have begun until the tenth
century.
During the tenth century the shape of the Nishapur
pitchers gradually changed. The lower end tended to
taper downward from a high shoulder, the neck was often
very high, and the base, instead of being pushed up, was
left flat. Usually there was a change of angle as the wall
approached the base, leading to a recognizable foot. On
both large and small pitchers the handle, as was not the
case before, was generally furnished with a thumbknob.
Apart from deUcate chattering on the shoulder, the deco-
ration of the new type of pitcher was mostly restricted to
the neck, which rarely has the projecting collar of the
older type. The commonest decoration is a band of
combed Unes low on the neck, serving as an ornamental
collar. Sometimes this is all that one sees, but there is
often a supplement of parallel Unes circumscribing the
neck higher up, either straight or wavy, and, more excep-
tionally, there are raised rings (18). The space between
the hnes may be filled with crosshatching, parallel wavy
lines, lozenges, freely drawn patterns apparently derived
from leafy forms, or Kufic inscriptions.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the wavy Unes
became the dominant motif. When such waves are deep
they are often supplemented by Uttle crescent-shaped
scratches. One also finds sUghtly wavy incised Unes, after
the fashion of those on 43, radiating from the neck onto
the shoulder. The neck itself is sometimes shorter in
relation to the height of the body than it is in earUer
pieces. A new form of decoration appears: dimpUng (25).
In heavy pitchers there is a tendency to have the area of
greatest width below the center, giving the vessel a sag-
ging appearance.
When mold-made pitchers became fashionable in the
twelfth century, the shape changed again. The high shoul-
der disappeared and the greatest diameter occurred where
the two hemispherical halves were joined. The neck,
instead of being straight, now developed a curve (165),
and the handles were once more made without thumb-
knobs. The bases of these pitchers became very high and
were sometimes marked with circumscribing grooves.
The place in which a group of these mold-made pieces
(155, 157, 158, 161, 162, 163, 165, 166) was found was
identified as a kiln site. Although no other kiln sites were
found for this ware, it is Ukely that it was not aU made at
one site, since another group of pieces with quite difierent
decoration (167-177) was excavated in another area.
Water containers of a different shape from any so far
discussed were found in Nishapur. They have a flatly
domed top, a spout projecting at an angle, two handles
close by the spout, and a substantial circular base. Two
kinds of decoration were employed on these containers :
grafiiato patterns (103) of a simple type, seen on the
earUer pieces, and a molded ornament (106), seen on
pieces not earUer than the twelfth century. Such con-
tainers were not much used in Nishapur, judging by the
paucity of the finds, and it is by no means certain that
any of them were made there.
Not made until the eleventh or twelfth century were
thin-waUed drinking cups (41-43) that conform fairly
closely to the cups in general use today. They carry an
incised and combed decoration in the same style as the
contemporary pitchers. Their absence in the earUer
period substantiates the hypothesis that their function
was then performed by the smaU pitchers.
Certain of the unglazed vessels (109-117) obviously
constitute a special group. UsuaUy of sphero-conical
shape, they have a nippleUke opening at the top. In most
cases this is circumscribed by a groove, probably to hold
a suspension cord. Whatever the shape of the lower end
— rounded, pointed, or given a fishUke tail — the smaU
orifice at the top precludes spilUng when the vessel is
set down. The vessels have other features in common;
aU can readily be held in one hand. AU are of high-fired,
hard, impermeable clay, capable of retaining a Uquid for
a long time, even if left unsealed. These are Nishapur's
representatives of a type of vessel that has been widely
and numerously found in the Islamic world. That our
examples were made in Nishapur is evident from the dis-
covery of many pieces spoiled in the making. The kiln
site itself, which is at a high level and was probably active
in the twelfth century, extends under a modern road at
the edge of Qanat Tepe and could not be excavated. None
of the many similar vessels discovered was glazed, and
only one was made of a substance other than earthen-
ware : stone. Like a number of the earthenware vessels,
this had an incised decoration.
The wide-ranging hypotheses concerning this type of
container have been usefuUy assembled and recapitu-
lated by Richard Ettinghausen {Journal of Near Eastern
Studies^ XXIV, pp. 218-229). Nothing that we discovered
in Nishapur supports the speculation by some earUer
writers that they were fiUed with combustibles for use
either as lamps or grenades, and the construction of
294
Unglazed Ware
Nishapur fireplaces (Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin^ June, 1944, pp. 282-291) rules out their
conjectured use as aeolipiles or fire-blowers. In our view
(those of us who excavated them in Nishapur) these were
simply bottles for storing valued Hquids— of which rose
water, to suggest but one, would be common. The bottles
probably served as aquamaniles, or dispensers, in the
required cleansing of hands before and after the taking
of food. It is to be noted in this connection that the
qum-qum bottle, with its long neck and small orifice,
came into fashion at a later time. A group of ninth-
century bottles of this type from Oren-Kala (Azerbaijan?)
(GiuzaHan, Palestinian Collection^ 13, 1965, pp. 166-170,
figs. 1, 2) contained some with the inscription "drink
with pleasure," suggesting that they were intended for
potable liquids. The heaviness of most of these sphero-
conical vessels, however, does suggest a more extensive
use than this. The subject has been revived recently by
J. M. Rogers in his article "AeoKpiles Again," in For-
schungen zur Kunst asiens, Istanbul, 1970, pp. 147-158.
Some flat molds — none complete — made of very
smooth, weU-cleaned clay, present a number of problems.
While some are decorated simply in a geometrical fashion,
others are of great iconographical interest, incorporating
human and perhaps semidivine creatures. Though a
broken inscription in Arabic on one of the models (190)
indicates that it is of Muhammadan inspiration, certain
of its decorative details are decidedly unorthodox. What
substance was fashioned in these molds is not known. It
seems doubtful that they were used for the manufacture
of ceramics, since the entire group was found at a site far
removed, so far as we know, from any kilns ; furthermore,
no other debris associable with kiln sites was found in
the vicinity. Possibly they were used for making thin gold
ornaments. No matter what the medium, it is difiicult to
conceive the use or uses of the molded objects. No loops
for suspension are indicated, in contrast, for example,
with such loops on the blue-glazed pendants (Group 11,
44-48), If the objects were of metal, they could have been
attached to fabrics by means of perforations or added
wire loops, but this is all speculation. The dating of these
pieces can only be approximated. Mixed with other de-
bris, they were used in the filling of a low plastered
platform that was added on top of the original plastered
floor of a room furnished with a plaster mihrab. It is only
certain that they cannot be assigned a date earUer than
the end of the tenth century.
With the principal kinds of unglazed ware in Nishapur
estabhshed, a few words may be added about its relation-
ships with the unglazed ware of other places. That of
the seventh- and eighth-century city of Merv, two hun-
dred miles north of Nishapur, as pubUshed by E. Z.
Zaurova {Trudy ^ XI, pp. 174-216), shows a few resem-
blances only, such as the use — to a very limited extent —
of wavy combed fines (figs. 19, 22) and kinship in a frag-
ment or two of molded ware (p. 210, fig. 26). At a shghtly
later period and at places to the west of Nishapur there
are examples that recall, but are easily distinguishable
from, those of Nishapur. These occur at Fustat (Scan-
Ion, Archaeology^ 21, p. 191), Khirbat al Mafjar (Baramki,
Quarterly of the Dept. of Antiquities in Palestine, X, pi.
xxi), Al-Hira (Rice, Ars Islamica^ I, pp.51-73), Ctesiphon
(unpubhshed), al-Mina (Lane, Archaeologia, LXXXVII,
pi. xix), Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra,
pi. ii), and Susa (Koechhn, Les Ceramiques, pi. i). The
same statement holds for unglazed pottery produced
at still later periods at Merv (Zaurova, Trudy ^ XI, p. 196),
Lashkari Bazar (Gardin, Lashkari Bazar ^ II, pi. iv), and
Rayy (unpubhshed). A large number of these pieces have
a basic conformity because, on the whole, they were made
to serve similar functions. It would not be sensible to
suggest that any one place influenced the work of another.
Certain preferences were more or less universal, such as
the thumbstop on the handle, the combed decoration
(common throughout the ninth and tenth centuries), and
dimpling (widespread in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies). Some details are the mark of Nishapur potters,
none other, for example, using chattering as a decorative
device more skillfully. Another mark of manufacture in
Nishapur was the custom, in the ninth century, of press-
ing up the base of small drinking vessels and ewers. If the
Nishapur maker of unglazed pottery borrowed some
shapes from Iraq of the ninth century, he quickly refined
them so that what he produced excelled that which he
copied — a process not to be observed in the glazed wares
of Nishapur. In some types of the present ware, such as
the sphero-conical vessels, he was undoubtedly influ-
enced. On the whole he was less original in these than
were the potters of Transoxiana. In regard to the molded
wares, fittle was imported to Nishapur beyond a few
pieces from Merv. Despite much excellent work in this
technique, the Nishapur style broadly conformed to that
of other major centers.
On the whole, the Nishapur potters who made unglazed
wares were not greatly influenced by the production of
other centers, even though their wares reflected certain
current ceramic fashions and used decorative features
unknown in pottery before the early eleventh century,
such as seated human figures, human-headed birds, and
star-dotted backgrounds. One is less conscious, in the
unglazed pottery, of the division between east and west,
perhaps because, in the greater part of this ware, orna-
ment played a lesser role than in the glazed wares.
Unglazed Ware
295
1 DRINKING PITCHER
H 12.3, W 9.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Well-cleaned bluish gray clay. Flaring neck. Body widest
below midpoint. Base thin and flat. Plain looped handle
attached at lip and just above widest part of body. Both
color and shape are unusual, suggesting an import. The
locations in Nishapur in which bluish gray pottery was
found indicate that it is of the ninth century. Pitchers of
this clay rarely have a thumbknob on the handle. These
pitchers, as well as those of the usual greenish gray color,
were finished wetly; they do not have an engobe, Un-
glazed pieces of this bluish gray color have also been found
at Qasr-i-abu Nasr.
2 DRINKING PITCHER
H 13, W 9.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Surface light blue with greenish cast. Discolorations due
to burial. Thinly potted. Neck flares from sloping shoul-
der; a groove at the collar. Body almost pear shaped, with
sharp change of angle just above base. Base pushed up to
form a concavity, a treatment much used in Nishapur in
the ninth century as an alternative to a solid foot or a foot
ring. Plain looped handle. Vertical tool strokes on body.
Several variations of this shape were found, one having
no clearly defined change of angle above the base, others
having two or three grooves at the collar. One such pitcher,
of which only fragments were found, had two handles, one
1:3
surmounting the other. The upper end of the lower han-
dle was attached below the pitcher's neck lower than it is
attached on 2. Above this, on the neck, the upper end of
the additional handle was attached ; its lower end joined
the first handle at the point where the first handle was
farthest from the body of the pitcher.
3 DRINKING PITCHER
H 12.4, W 9.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.198
Bluish gray clay, thinly potted. Plain neck flares sharply
1:3
from sloping shoulder, which is decorated with circum-
scribing grooves forming four short steps. Body divided
into two zones of different shape, the upper with sloped
sides, the lower with vertical sides. The upper zone is in-
tentionally chattered. The plain looped handle attaches
to the top of the lower zone, the common practice in thinly
turned pitchers with bodies thus divided (compare 5-7),
The base is pushed up to form a concavity.
Pitchers similar to 3, but with the neck taller and more
vertical, were made in the ninth century in Samarra (Sarre,
Die Keramik von Samarra, pi. ii, no. 3) and Cte siphon
(unpublished). The potting of these pitchers, which are
of a yellowish clay, is inferior to that of Nishapur, and the
pieces lack the distinctive concave bases of the Nishapur
pieces. The vertical strokes on the bodies are scratched,
not chattered. In Susa the pitchers most closely related to
3 (Koechlin, Les Ceramiques^ p. 10, nos. 75, 78) resem-
ble those found in Samarra and Ctesiphon rather than
Nishapur; the pottery of Susa in general is more closely
related to that of Iraq than that of the Iranian highland.
4 DRINKING PITCHER (handle missing)
H 12.5, W 9.2 cm ; ViUage Tepe
Discarded
1:3 1:3
Bluish gray clay, thinly potted. Flaring neck. Broad pear-
shaped body with sharp change of angle near the pushed-
up, concave base. Two incised lines encircle the neck, two
the shoulder. Ninth century. Somewhat similar pieces
were found at low levels in Tepe Madraseh. Some of these
had a more or less vertical wall at the center of the body.
296
Unglazed Ware
1:3
Another example from Tepe Madraseh is so low in pro-
portion to its width that it must be considered a cup
rather than a drinking pitcher.
5 DRINKING PITCHER
H 14.7, W 10.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.47
1:3
Greenish surface. Thinly potted. Flaring neck. Body di-
vided into three zones by means of short vertical steps.
The lowest zone, which has vertical sides, is chattered.
The base has a circular groove, leaving a central platform
four centimeters in diameter. The lower end of the handle
attaches to the lowest zone of the body (compare 3, 6, 7).
Ninth century.
6 DRINKING PITCHER
H 14.6, W 11.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Warm gray clay, unusually gritty. Body divided into two
zones by means of a deep groove. The lower zone, with
almost vertical sides, has a sharp change of angle as it
leads to the pushed-up, concave base. The round-shoul-
dered upper zone has tool marks on it. Two adjoining
ridges encircle the collar. The flaring neck and loop han-
dles are characteristic of pitchers with more globular
bodies (8, 15). Found in the same location as 5. Ninth
century.
7 DRINKING PITCHER (minor restoration)
H 14.5, W 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.44
1:3
Greenish gray surface. Thinly potted. Body divided into
two zones by means of a groove. The sloping upper zone
has been worked by a tool with an up and down move-
ment. The vertical-sided lower zone has a sharp change of
angle as it leads to the base. Base is pushed up to form a
cavity four and one-half centimeters in diameter. Around
the collar of the flaring neck are two adjoining ridges, a
feature of several ninth-century drinking pitchers (6, 15).
The lower end of the handle attaches at the usual point,
the top of the lower zone. Related pitchers were found
with a more strongly concave upper zone, tooled in up and
down zigzags. Another example from Tepe Madraseh,
roughly similar in shape, had a convex, rather than con-
cave, base.
Unglazed Ware
297
8 DRINKING PITCHER
H 12.2, W 11.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish buff surface. More heavily potted than 1-7.
Globular body has distinct transition from sloping shoul-
der to slightly flaring neck. Neck is wider, proportionately,
than necks of 2-7, Body shows slight horizontal tool marks.
Such marks, made when the vessel is on the wheel but not
revolving at speed, are characteristic of this heavier kind
of pitcher. Flat, thin base. Such a base is also characteris-
tic, as is the absence of a thumbknob on the loop handle.
Ninth century. We know from other examples from Tepe
Madraseh that in some instances the collar is well devel-
1:3
oped. In addition to the collar a grooved decoration some-
times appears near the lip.
9 PITCHER
H 16, W 11.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Body plain with wide, gently sloping shoulder. Handle
plain. Small, slightly flaring neck with rounded rim. At
the collar, a step with ridge above and below. Flat, thick-
ened base. Found in a low-level, ninth-century location.
Small-necked pitchers of this shape were sometimes pro-
vided with a hemispherical cover (46),
10 PITCHER
H 16.7, W 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Thinly turned, globular, flattish-shouldered body, deco-
rated with chattering. Small neck with two shallow steps
at collar, common on ninth -century pitchers. Several some-
what similar pitchers were unearthed. One in the Metro-
1:3
politan (40.170.40) has a taller neck, slightly narrower
shoulders, and is not chattered. Another, also in the Met-
ropolitan (40.170.42), has a single incised line around the
1:3
collar and combed rather than chattered decoration. An-
other type, with boldly stepped neck and almost spherical
body, was retrieved from Tepe Madraseh.
11 DRINKING PITCHER
H 13.4, W 11.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Buff surface. Rather small body with wide neck. Two-
stepped collar. The shapes and collar, common on ninth-
298
1:3 1:3
century pitchers, vary in shape, size, and number of steps.
No ninth-century pitchers of this shape have a thumbknob
on the handle.
12 PITCHER
H 23.9, W 18.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.207
Buff core, yellowish gray surface. The nearly spherical
body is chattered at about the level of the bottom of the
handle (compare 14). The potter then all but obliterated
the ridges with toolings made when the vessel was on the
wheel but not turning at speed (compare 15). The base is
pushed up to form a sHght concavity. At the base of the
tall neck is a projecting collar decorated with a wavy
groove. Ninth century. Found with 14. Other pitchers of
this shape were found, their bodies chattered, their necks
left plain.
13 PITCHER
H 24, W 15.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Unglazed Ware
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. Narrow neck with
three-stepped collar. Stepped collars are also found on
pitchers with comparatively wide necks (11, 14). The pro-
nounced base, breaking the line of the lower body, is char-
acteristic of vessels with narrow mouths. Ninth century.
These pitchers vary somewhat in proportionate heights of
neck and body, as in one with a two-stepped collar from
Tepe Madraseh:
1:3
14 PITCHER
H 25.1, W 19.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.208
Greenish gray surface. Almost spherical body, chattered.
Very thin, slightly concave base. On neck, a two-stepped
projecting collar decorated with a combed wavy pattern.
Near the lip, a band consisting of two incised lines and a
wavy line. Ninth century. Found in the same pit as 12,
along with several other pitchers. Pitchers of this shape
were sometimes glazed (Group 7, 15, 16).
15 DRINKING PITCHER
H 13.7, W 10.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.190
Greenish gray surface. Almost spherical body with tooled
finishing marks. Base pushed up to form a concavity. Two
adjoining ridges of equal size encircle the base of the tall
neck (compare 6). Ninth century. Very similar vessels
were made with a flat base and with the rings on the neck
separated, as in another example from Tepe Madraseh:
1:3
1:3
Unglazed Ware
299
16 PITCHER
H 19.5, W 13 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.21
Greenish gray surface. Turned thin. An unusual shape,
the wide-shouldered body tapering to a wide, flat base, the
narrow neck opening into a wide cuplike mouth. Two in-
cised lines encircle the neck. Despite the uncommon shape,
the quality of the potting and the appearance of the clay
suggest local manufacture. Ninth or tenth century.
17 PITCHER
H 18.5, W 12.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Pinkish buff body, greenish gray surface. Walls turned
thinner than the projection of the lip may suggest. A
groove encircles the neck just below the lip. Below the
upper attachment of the handle, a band formed of two
pairs of grooves enclosing a wavy line. On the shoulder,
close against the neck (not visible in the illustration, but
see 20), is a band of hatched strokes, placed close together
and set at an angle. These were made with a comblike tool.
Faint chattering present on body. At the shoulder, a dark
reddish blush, caused by the pitcher's close juxtaposition
to another vessel in the kiln. Tenth century. Vessels with
this profile were not always as elaborately decorated nor
did they always have such finely turned walls, for example,
one from the same site but probably of earlier date:
1:3
18 DRINKING PITCHER (handle missing)
H 13.2, W 11.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Greenish surface. Turned thin. Flaring neck. Low shoul-
der. Body tapers sharply to small, flat base. Handle proba-
bly surmounted by thumbknob. A shape that in Nishapur
appears to be characteristic of tenth-century drinking
pitchers. It must be noted, however, that this particular
form existed in the eighth century in Egypt, though with
a more coarsely formed base, as in an example found at
Fustat along with two dated glass objects, one a measuring
vessel, the other a coin weight (Scanlon, Archaeology^ 21,
p. 191). The body of 18 is chattered on the curve of the
shoulder. Between the bands on the neck, which are deco-
rated with wavy lines and bordered by projecting ridges, a
scratched Kufic inscription reads : al barakeh (li) sahibeh
(blessing to the owner). Some of these thin -walled vessels
lack inscriptions and combed decorations ; in these, chat-
tering appears to be the principal decoration:
1:3
19 PITCHER
H 23.2, W 16.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish buff core, yellowish green surface. Potted thicker
than 17, 18. The moderately wide, flaring neck, which has
a slightly projecting lip, is encircled with bands of straight
and wavy combed lines. Pitchers of this heavier make, with
high shoulders and steeply tapering sides, were manufac-
tured in great number in Nishapur during the tenth cen-
tury and a little later. Their handles are usually furnished
with a thumbknob, as seen here. For a toy version, see 134.
Although some of these pitchers had moderately wide
necks (19) with a flat rim, others had the thin rim typical
of Nishapur unglazed pitchers and drinking vessels, as in
an example from Tepe Madraseh :
1:3
300
Unglazed Ware
20 DRINKING PITCHER
H 22.4, W 19.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish gray surface. Body tapers down to a clearly Indi-
cated base. Lip very thin. Around the wide neck, at level of
handle attachment, two narrow bands of incised lines. The
collar, decorated with combed waves, does not project,
unlike the collars of earlier pitchers (12, 14). On the
shoulder, close to the neck (as on 17), a band of short
hatchings. Typical of tenth century.
21 DRINKING PITCHER
H 21.6, W 18 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.187
Greenish gray surface. Body merges inconspicuously into
base. Base, pushed up in center, has a slight bevel. Collar,
projecting slightly, has combed decoration; at level of
handle attachment, two circumscribing wavy grooves.
Handle has a thumbknob composed of two elements. Ap-
parently a transitional piece between such ninth-century
pitchers as 12 and 14 and 20, which is of the tenth cen-
tury. A very similar pitcher without the projecting collar
came from Tepe Madraseh :
1:3
22 DRINKING PITCHER
H 18.4, W 16 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 36.20.39
Bullish gray surface. Broad-shouldered body tapers
abruptly to a relatively small, high, flat base. On the high,
wide-mouthed neck, a band of incised leaflike forms en-
closed in rectangles, bordered above and below by a nar-
row band of pricking between incised lines. At the collar,
which does not project, a band of incised lines. Chattering
on the shoulder. Two-element thumbknob on handle.
Tenth century. Many vessels of this shape were found,
most having combed and incised decorations on the neck,
similar combed lines at the collar, and chattering on the
shoulder. Although none were found with lids at hand,
such pitchers as this and the following five were furnished
with lids of the type presented as 47.
23 DRINKING PITCHER
H 19.5, W 14 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.193
Greenish gray surface. Tall neck. Body tapers down to a
slightly splayed foot. Base slightly concave. A very popu-
lar shape in Nishapur during the tenth century. Neck dec-
orated with incised circumscribing lines forming two
bands, the upper one containing diagonal combings, the
lower a combed wavy line. At the collar, the customary
band of incised lines. Shoulder chattered. Thumbknob
on handle. Necks of related pitchers were sometimes more
simply decorated. In some the wavy band was repeated
1:3
several times. A fairly common neck decoration was a band
of lozenges on a pricked ground :
1:3
Unglazed Ware
301
24 DRINKING PITCHER
H 17.1, W 13.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.214
Greenish gray surface. The shape more elaborate than
that of any of the preceding pitchers. Body divided into
two zones by means of a clearly defined waist; body widest
just above this. Base, slightly concave, has two bevels.
Neck decoration, consisting of combed straight and wavy
lines, somewhat resembles that on 23. The collar, instead
of having the usual band of parallel lines, has a series of
bubblelike projections with flattened tops. The upper
zone of the body, somewhat flattened in places, is chat-
tered. The waist is decorated with an incised wavy line.
Beneath this, serving as the lower border of the waist, is a
line of diagonal indentations. The handle, whose lower
end attaches to the upper zone of the body, has a thumb-
knob made in two tiers. Not earlier than eleventh century.
Production continued into the twelfth.
Another example of this type, in the Teheran museum,
has the upper zone, likewise chattered, indented in places
by means of a short, straight-edged tool. Belonging to this
later period, when indentations of all sorts seem to have
been fashionable, is a fragment found in the Bazaar Tepe:
1:3
25 PITCHER
H 14.5, W 15.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.121
Greenish gray surface. Unusually short neck, wide shoul-
der, sharply tapered body, high, slightly concave base. In-
cised parallel lines on the neck form a band that contains
a combed wavy line and some small crescent-shaped
scratches. Additional lines appear at the collar, on the
upper surface of the shoulder, and at the shoulder itself.
Beneath the last mentioned is a row of dimples, made by
pressing a finger into the clay (see also 39, 64). Such dim-
ples are a clear indication of manufacture after the Sama-
nid period: a date of the eleventh century or later. Con-
firming this, the vessel was found at a high level in a site
that was used into the twelfth century.
Dimpling, a very old practice, is found in Assyrian
"palace" ware of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. Here
it occurs on the lower part of handleless drinking vessels,
where its purpose was to keep the users fingers from slip-
ping. In the Islamic period the dimpling was simply dec-
orative. For a variation of the dimpling technique in an
unglazed cup not made in Nishapur, see Lane, Early Is-
lamic Pottery^ pL 36B.
26 TWO-HANDLED DRINKING PITCHER
(one handle restored)
H 12.7, W 14 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 37.40.4
Greenish gray surface. Body tapers down from high shoul-
der to form a clearly defined foot. Base concave, slight pad
at center. Neck decorated with random combed lines ; col-
lar encircled with usual band of combed lines. Additional
lines incised upon upper surface of shoulder. Tenth cen-
tury. Though not as common as one-handled pitchers,
two-handled pitchers were not rare in Nishapur. Another
example, not earlier than the end of the tenth century, had
thumbknobs on the handles, and in place of the combed
decoration an applied strip of simple barbotine at the
shoulder :
1:3
27 TWO-HANDLED PITCHER
H 14.8, W 14,8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Short neck, with body tapering to form a clearly defined
foot, the shape similar to that of 26. A spout has been
added, terminating in a wide cylinder with everted lip.
Thumbknobs on handles. Neck decorated with a band of
lozenges incised between circumscribing lines, a common
adornment on drinking pitchers. Collar encircled with the
usual combed lines. Tenth century.
302
Un glazed Ware
28 PITCHER (lower part of handle restored)
H 22.5, W 15.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MM A 40.170.53
Greenish gray surface. Narrow neck with high, projecting
collar; wide flat lip with rounded edge. High shoulder,
with body tapering to a slightly splayed foot. Base some-
what concave. Thumbknob on handle. Neck decorated
with circumscribing lines, shoulder with a broad band of
combed wavy lines between pairs of parallel incised lines.
A common tenth-century shape. Such pitchers were
furnished with a domed cover with a flat projecting ledge
to match the flat lip (46) and a tubular extension that
fitted into the pitcher's neck. Not all such pitchers had a
thumbknob on the handle. One from Sabz Pushan had no
combed decoration and a very sharp angle between the
shoulder and the sharply tapered body :
1:3
29 PITCHER
H 28, W 14.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.106
Warm greenish surface. Neck tapers downward to a ridge
at the collar, shoulder slopes out to meet a groove at the
top of the cylindrical body. Flat base. Plain handle. No
decoration. The shape closely resembles that of a ninth-
1:3
century metal pitcher found in Tepe Madraseh. This
sharply sloping shoulder combined with a straight-sided
body was a feature of eighth-century unglazed pottery at
Khirbat al Mafjar (Baramki, Quarterly of the Dept. of An-
tiquities in Palestine, X, p. 99, fig. 7). Another type of
pitcher, with the sharp shoulder of 29 but with a rounded
tapering body, was found in Sabz Pushan. A further vari-
ant came from the Qanat Tepe :
1:3
30 PITCHER
H 22.5, W 14.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, greenish surface. Generally the shape of
28, with added flange just below the mouth. A domed lid.
Unglazed Ware
303
fitted over this, would not easily be displaced. The neck
has a double collar; the lower part is adorned with the
usual parallel lines, the upper with two parallel lines sur-
mounted by a wavy line. Probably eleventh century. A
very similar pitcher was found in Sabz Pushan, a shape
1:3
that was also glazed brown in Nishapur. A variation (un-
glazed) with a ledge to support a lid was found in the Vil-
1:3
lage Tepe. The mouth of 30 continued into the twelfth
century in eastern Iran and was used even later in glazed
wares, although the shape of the body became more globu-
lar (Bahrami, Gurgan Faiences^ pL xiii, center; pi. xxxix).
31 DRINKING PITCHER
H 14, W 11.1 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish body, greenish surface. Neck, with wide mouth,
tapers to a shght ridge at collar. Rounded shoulder. Wide,
flat base with suggestion of foot. Such a base is uncommon
in the one-handled drinking pitchers of Nishapur. The
suggestion of a foot is a feature of some unglazed pottery
vessels of Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ p. 6,
% 2).
32 PITCHER
H 14.9, W 9.9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 37.40.5
Greenish buff* surface. Tall, narrow, slightly flaring neck,
low, wide body, clearly defined foot, flat base. Incised lines
around collar and just below it. Two-tiered thumbknob on
handle. Tenth century. Not a common shape in Nishapur.
(For a similar shape in the pottery of Merv, see Lunina,
Trudy ^ XI, p. 351, fig. 76, top row.) The narrow neck of a
1:3 1:3
pitcher found in Sabz Pushan had five loops attached just
beneath the rim, each loop encircled by a freely moving
pottery ring. Another unusual shape is that of a narrow
neck with widely flaring rim, exemplified in a vessel from
Tepe Madraseh, probably of the tenth century.
33 PITCHER
H 15, W 11.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.216
Greenish gray surface. SHghtly flaring neck, almost spher-
ical body, clearly marked foot, flat base. Undecorated.
Ninth century. Similarly shaped pitchers were covered
with opaque yellow glaze and green splashes (Group 7,
13). A small unglazed pitcher of much the same shape
was found at Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^
p. 6, fig. 6). In some Nishapur examples there is a double
collar, rather than the simple one of 33, as in an example
from Tepe Madraseh :
304
Unglazed Ware
34 PITCHER
H 14.5, W 10.8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.40
Greenish gray surface. Body rather squat, with flat base.
Narrow neck with two-stepped collar above a slightly pro-
jecting band. Incised circumscribing lines at lip. For a
similar collar, see 10. Probably late ninth century.
35 BEAKER
H 12.4, W 8.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.48
Greenish gray surface. Poorly potted: thick, asymmetri-
cal, with rough surface and unsmoothed finger grooves
around center. Undecorated. Ninth century. Also from
Tepe Madraseh came a vessel, perhaps also a beaker, pos-
sibly of the tenth century, with slightly protruding lip.
Like 35 it shows the horizontal grooves made by the pot-
ter's fingers, but in this case only on the inside:
1:3
36 DRINKING PITCHER
H 15, W 12.4 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Slightly flaring neck, pronounced high shoulder, small,
flat base. Thick-walled. No thumbknob on handle. Un-
decorated, A poor man's version of 23. An area on the
shoulder, burned reddish in the kiln, shows as a dark tone.
37 CUP
H 10.3, W 11.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish body, buff surface. Short, nearly vertical neck,
high shoulder, body tapered to small, flat base. Tenth
century.
38 CUP (handle restored)
H 10.1, W 10 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.89
Greenish gray surface. Tapered top, narrow mouth, deeply
grooved body, small, flat base. Probably eleventh century.
An unusual shape, hardly convenient for the action of
drinking. A cup from Tepe Madraseh, related to this one
through its deep, wide groove on the body, had a wide,
1:3
flaring mouth. An unglazed cup shaped like 38, probably
also of the eleventh century, was found in Merv (Lunina,
Trudy ^ XI, p. 275, fig. 30, bottom row).
39 CUP (restored)
H 8.3, W 12.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.43
Greenish buff surface. Thinly potted. Wide mouth, thin
lip. Below this, an encircling convex ring. Transition to
shoulder marked by narrow ridge. Body tapers sharply to
flat base. Handle, a ring with flat sides, surmounted by
thumbknob, rounded at top. At the vessel's shoulder, a
row of dimples (further comment on this at 25), indicating
manufacture in the eleventh century or later. A twelfth-
century version, also thinly potted, decorated with stamped
rosettes separated by a vertical groove, was found in the
Bazaar Tepe :
1:3
40 CUP
H 12, W 13 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.182
Poorly cleaned, gritty clay, reddish at core with yellowish
gray surface. The shape seems to be a development of 37,
the neck more clearly defined, with a ridge at the collar,
the lip thickened and turned out. Flat base. Found at the
top level of an area that flourished to the end of the twelfth
century. No cups of this shape, as distinct from 37, were
Unglazed Ware
305
found in the ninth- or tenth-century areas. Another form
of these cups was found in the top level of the Bazaar Tepe :
1:3
41 CUP FRAGMENT
H 13.2, W 12.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.608
Greenish surface. Body widest near base, tapering upward
with a sHght concavity near the thin hp. The foot (miss-
ing) was doubtless like that of 43. The principal decoration
consists of two incised curved stems with short, combed
leaves. A combed ellipse appears between the stems. Above
and below this decoration, a band of wavy and straight
lines. The missing side of the cup may have been similarly
decorated. The handle is formed of a flat strap into which
two slots have been cut, end to end, with a pricked point
between them. Two flat pellets are affixed at the top of the
handle. From a twelfth-century location.
Of a somewhat earlier date is a cup fragment from Sabz
Pushan; approximately hemispherical, the cup was pro-
1:3
vided with a ring handle surmounted by a projecting, flat
thumbknob. The knob, like the shoulder of the cup, was
decorated with scratched designs.
42 CUP
H 10.8, W 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Gray surface. Body widest near base, tapering gently up-
ward to lip, sharply downward to small foot. Mouth oval
rather than circular, an unusual feature. The long diam-
eter, on the axis with the handle, measures 6.2 centimeters,
the short diameter 5.7. Thumbknob on handle. Decora-
tion: three combed wavy bands of unequal width, the
center one supplemented above and below by short combed
strokes. Of earlier date than 41 and 43, and apparently
their prototype.
43 a,b CUP (handle restored, copying 41)
H 15.8, W 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.119
Greenish gray surface. Widest diameter low, the body
then cutting in sharply to form a high foot. Base slightly
concave. The decoration is asymmetrical, a feature not
typical of the unglazed ware of Nishapur. Three bands of
circumscribing lines were incised while the piece turned
on the wheel, forming two registers. In the upper register,
on one side, a simple two-strand braid was incised; in the
lower, a wider, more elaborate braid was given a pricked
background. On the other side of the cup the registers are
filled with double wavy lines, forming a V in the upper
register, a cross in the lower. The registers and horizontal
bands are crossed in three places by vertical bands formed
of double straight lines enclosing double wavy lines. From
a location active in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
From the same late area came a pitcher with a pointed
1:3
thumbknob on the handle. Its scratched decoration, of a
type found only after the tenth century, includes vertical
straight lines and zigzags. Apart from cups, there is some
evidence that footed goblets were made. No good example
was found intact, but the base of such a vessel was found
in Sabz Pushan:
1:3
306
Un glazed Ware
44 LAMP OR CANDLESTICK
D 16, H 5.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Reddish body, greenish surface. Within a circular, nearly
vertical-sided dish there rises, somewhat higher than the
dish's rim, a cup. A green-glazed candlestick found at
Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ p. 27, fig. 80)
has a center cup with flaring top that rises even higher.
45 LAMP OR CANDLESTICK
D 17.8, H 5.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.103
Reddish body, greenish surface. The center cup, rising
less high than that of 44 and curving inward somewhat at
the top, is remarkably like the center cup in a monochrome-
glazed assembly of dishes (Group 9, 39).
46 LID
H 5.3, W 6 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36.20.43
Greenish gray surface. Simply made and unadorned. The
dome shape and flange indicate a use on such pitchers as
30. Lids of similar shape but with a downward projection
beneath the flange covered such pitchers as 28.
47 LID
W 11 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.155
Greenish gray surface. Concave in shape, sloping down
from the rim to the central knob. Two circumscribing
grooves, one near the rim, the other halfway down the
wall. Eight groups of dots pricked in the clay, five between
the two grooves, three around the knob. The groups, con-
sisting of a circle of dots around a central dot, recall the
slip-painted rosettes seen in the ware with the colored
engobe (Group 5, 1, 17, 18). Many lids of about this
shape were found, some decorated with pricking, others
with incised rays. Although no vessel was found with such
1:3
1:3
a lid in position, the lids were obviously made to cover
such wide-mouthed pitchers as 22~27.
48 LAMP
L 8.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Buff clay. Small, triangular in shape, and handleless : a
form rare in Nishapur. The typical Nishapur lamp of this
variety (Group 9, 20) has a rounder body and a pinched
spout. A stone lamp of much the same shape as 48 was
unearthed at Nishapur, and similar stone lamps have been
found at Ctesiphon. 48 was undoubtedly brought to Nish-
apur by a traveler. Probably ninth century.
49 LID
W 9.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Domed body surmounted by
knob with wavy flange. Encircling the lid, a starlike band
made of two incised lines enclosing a line of pricked dots.
An additional line of dots encircles the knob. Small tri-
angles of clay have been removed from the angles of the
band, the potter cutting through from the top surface.
Domed lids of this width were less common than concave
lids like 47.
50 LID
W 7.8 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.124
Greenish gray surface. Domed body surmounted by knob
composed of several elements, including a small flange and
a rounded top. Openwork decoration based on crossing
straps, with figure eights and rings left in the squares and
triangles. The straps and figure eights are adorned with
Unglazed Ware
307
pricked lines. Between the openwork and the rim, a border
of incised interlocking S-forms and a groove.
51 LID
W 8.6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.156
Buff clay, greenish surface. Flat surface with sharply up-
turned vertical rim. A variation of the concave type (47).
The knob is ringed with pricked dots. The body is pierced
by two rings of circular holes, the holes surrounded with
a circle of pricked dots. A wavy line encircles the piece
near the rim. Tenth century.
52 LANTERN (some restoration)
H 24.5, W 15 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.87
Warm greenish gray surface. High shoulder, moderately
tapered body, slightly concave base. Decoration consists
largely of openwork in six registers, the cutting done from
the outside. The solid strips between the registers are
lightly incised with two lines. The three upper registers
have a zigzag design, with open triangles and biconvex
shapes. The fourth register has an open biconvex shape
alternating with two open triangles, point to point. The
fifth register has small open triangles and rectangles, the
sixth, open biconvex forms. The entrance for the lamp is
topped by two openwork triangles. The handle consists of
a flat-faced ring with a deeply grooved rim. The top of the
shank was extended laterally and the ring pressed into it
to make a firm bond. The shank was modeled in two tiers,
the lower one grooved horizontally.
Among similar lanterns were some with a rectangular
opening for the lamp, the opening probably furnished with
a two-leaved door. Fragments of a lantern like 52 showed
the addition of stamped designs on the narrow uprights
between the perforations. No lanterns of glazed earthen-
ware were found in Nishapur. Lanterns resembling 52
were made earlier, in the Sasanian period, for example, in
Qasr-i-abu Nasr. They were of more elongated shape and
their perforations, narrower, were less formal in design.
53 LANTERN
H 22, W 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish buff surface. Above the semicircular opening for
the lamp, to one side, a triangular perforation flanked by
slits. Two grooves circumscribe the body. Handle like that
of 52. Simpler and less handsome than 52, this type is also
less fragile and more often survives. Although it would
have been less efficient in emitting light, it would also
have been less apt to soot up its usual resting place, the
whitewashed niche that is a traditional feature of the Iran-
ian dwelling. A cruder type was furnished with a simple
1:3
loop handle rather than a separately made ring. It is in-
teresting to note that simple perforated lamps of this type
were found in the excavations at Ramla, near Jaffa, and
dated to the eighth century. Thus the adoption of this
particular shape, as opposed to that of the more elongated
Sasanian lanterns, was established before those found in
Nishapur were made.
54 TWO-HANDLED PITCHER
H 20.5, W 14.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 36.20.41
Greenish gray surface. Thin wall but poorly potted: body
asymmetrical. Everted lip, thin and flat. High shoulder,
flat base. Three grooves encircle the neck, one above the
attachment of the handles, two below. Probably tenth
century.
\
55 JAR FRAGMENT
H 18.2, W 12.15 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
On the high shoulder in black pigment the inscription al
mulk lillah (sovereignty is God's). Beneath this, pre-
sumably an identification mark, perhaps the letter R with
the number 1811: lAjJj. Encircling the body is a painted
pattern of twisted bands, arranged so that vertical twists
alternate with horizontal ones. Near the base, two painted
signs of unknown meaning: - Discovered in a well
sunk from a high level. Probably eleventh century.
56 PITCHER
H 21.6, W 14.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.194
Reddish core, greenish gray surface. Flat base. The flat
rim was made by drawing in the clay to form a ledge ; the
neck thus appears thicker than it actually is. A groove en-
308
1:3
circles the neck just above the attachment of the handle; a
straight combed band surmounted by a wavy combed band
encircles the body at the shoulder. This simple but efiFec-
tive combination, appearing with variations on 58, 60, 63,
71, and 72, seems to have been popular in the unglazed
ware of Nishapur from the ninth century into the twelfth.
Vessels almost identical in shape to 56 but with two han-
dles were found at all the sites.
57 PITCHER
H 23.5, W 13 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Buff surface. Poorly potted. Flat inward-projecting rim
(compare 56). Two groups of grooves encircle the piece,
one high on the neck, the other on the sloping shoulder.
58 PITCHER
H 23, W 16 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.195
Gritty red clay, pale greenish buff surface. Three reddish
blushes on the body, the result of close packing in the kiln.
Long sloping shoulder, with greatest width of vessel only
a third of the height from the base. Base slightly concave.
Lower attachment of handle on shoulder. Several circum-
scribing ridges near the lip, the lowest one a projecting
ring. This ring is a feature of twelfth-century pitchers (com-
pare 60). Encircling the shoulder, a straight combed band
surmounted by a wavy one (compare 56). Found in a high-
level well in a twelfth -century area. No pitchers with this
type of shoulder were found in areas known to be inhab-
ited in the ninth and tenth centuries. A pitcher from
which the spout had been broken, found in Tepe Madra-
seh, had a more elaborate profile ; it was adorned with both
1:3
combed scratchings and incised ornament. Its base re-
sembles that of 58; its walls are comparatively thick except
near the rim. Probably twelfth century.
59 PITCHER
H 24, W 17.3 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
1:3
Made of the same gritty clay as 58. Red core, greenish sur-
face. Poorly potted. Narrow neck with thick, round lip. A
slight ridge at the collar. Greatest width of vessel below
Unglazed Ware
309
midpoint. Lower attachment of handle halfway up shoul-
der. Decoration on shoulder: a wavy combed band be-
tween two combed straight bands. From same location as
58. Twelfth century. An example of the eleventh or twelfth
century, furnished with a spout, was found at the East
Kilns:
1:4
60 PITCHER
H 30.4, W 17.3 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.229
Reddish buff core, greenish surface. In ^its final stage on
the wheel the piece was thoroughly wetted; consequently
it appears to have an engobe. (Water jars are made today
in Nishapur in this manner.) Greatest width of body at
midpoint. Base slightly concave. Mouth has projecting lip.
Beneath this, a projecting ring (compare 58), an indica-
tion of twelfth-century manufacture. At the collar, a
combed band, mostly spalled. On the shoulder, a combed
straight band with a wavy band above it (compare 56, 58),
From same location as 58 and 59.
61 PITCHER
H 31, W 17.8 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MMA 38.40.189
Reddish core, buff surface. Flat base, high shoulder, tap-
ered neck, flat rim extended inward in manner of 57, 58.
Undecorated. Probably tenth century. Somewhat similar
pitchers were given a combed decoration (79).
62 THREE-HANDLED STORAGE JAR
H 54.4, W 42 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.169
Reddish body, greenish surface. Flat base, rounded lip.
On the shoulder, bounded above and below by a pair of
inscribed lines, a row of die-stamped impressions. The
design, in relief, consists of seven radii, with a group of
three dots filling the intervening spaces. A closely related
design occurs on the stamped earthenware of Samarra
{Excavations at Samarra, 1936-1939^ II, pi. xxi, lower).
Ninth or early tenth century. Another example from the
deep level in Sabz Pushan was decorated with impressed
stars, while still another was stamped with a design of con-
centric pentagons.
1:8
A few very large storage jars, sometimes without handles
(following the Sasanian tradition) were discovered; one
from Qanat Tepe, probably of the ninth century, is shown :
310
Unglazed Ware
1:8
band at the bottom of the neck. A completely different
technique was employed in the decoration of a two-handled
storage jar from the Qanat Tepe; the entire vessel was fin-
ished with a thin dark red slip on which small designs
were painted in white ; the handles had thumbknobs and
a panel of painted decoration.
Unglazed Ware
311
63 TWO-HANDLED STORAGE JAR
H 51.1, W 36.9 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
1:4
Red body, buff surface. Convex projecting lip. Neck deco-
rated with two combed wavy bands separated by two cir-
cumscribing grooves. Below this, several shallow grooves.
At bottom -of shoulder, two straight combed bands, each
surmounted by a wavy one (comment on this decoration
at 56). A similar combed decoration was found on storage
jars without the projecting rim of 63.
64 THREE-HANDLED STORAGE JAR
(some restoration)
H 45, W 48.4 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.182
Reddish buff surface. Flat base, vertical sides, thick verti-
cal lip. The rather elaborate decoration is divided into
registers by means of narrow circumscribing combed bands.
The principal features are two registers of graffiato ar-
caded forms, the upper ones with pointed tops, the lower
ones with rounded tops. The upper forms contain slanting
lines of tiny curved strokes, the lower ones a dimple. (For
comment on dimpling, 25.) On the shoulder, a band of
slanting lines made of pricked dots. These and the curved
strokes in the arcaded forms were perhaps made with a
comb. Just above the base, a row of circular indentations.
The handles have been provided with knobs, but on a jar
of this size they are more decorative than practical. Sev-
eral vertical-sided jars with a similar arcaded decoration
were found. A related storage jar with three handles, and
with both stamped and incised decoration, was found in
the top level of the Village Tepe. All these jars are of the
eleventh or twelfth century.
1:4
1:4
312
Unglazed Ware
65 POTSTAND
H 32.1, W 35 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MMA 38.40.183
1:3
Reddish core, buff surface. Fashioned from a hollow cyl-
inder, the top edge turned out and down, the bottom edge
turned up to form a trough. The trough was probably
filled with water as a deterrent to vermin. Grooves circum-
scribe the body to make two bands, both of which are filled
with a series of joined semicircles. Circular dots are added
to the spaces of the upper series. Found with 64. Eleventh
or twelfth century. Potstands of this shape but without the
trough have been found at Merv (Lunina, Trudy, XI,
p. 357, fig. 80, bottom left).
66 FRAGMENT
H 30, W 26.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
Discarded
1:4
The column rising from the dish is solid. A bowl once
flared out from the widened top of the column. This ob-
ject, for which no name is known, was found standing
with some storage jars next to a wall (Hauser, Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin, October, 1937, p. 29, fig. 37).
It was probably used for storage, with the dish contain-
ing water to deter vermin.
Similar objects have been found elsewhere in Iran and
in Iraq. Three were unearthed by the Metropolitan Mu-
seum at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, a site occupied in Sasanian and
early Islamic times. One of these (34.107.38) has a trough
at the bottom with a vertical wall, another (34.107.34) has
the column rising from a container with convex sides,
while the third (in the Teheran museum), practically com-
plete and of the seventh or eighth century, consists of a
flowerpotlike container rising from a circular pan with a
low vertical wall. A similar and complete example was
found at Samarra (Excavations at Samarra, 1936-1939^
II, pi. XXI, lower) ; significantly, both its upper container
and trough were lined with bitumen, a waterproofing ma-
terial. This type of container apparently has a remote an-
tiquity, since in Palestine examples with a well -developed
lower compartment go back to the second millennium B.C.
(Jirku, Archiv fur Orientforsckung^ XVII, pp. 135, 136,
fig. 3).
67 POT
H 25, W 37.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Red core, buff surface. Wide top with rounded rim. Sides
taper to small, flat base. Decoration: a circumscribing
combed wavy band and groove. Found in a room that con-
tained a wine press. The vessel was embedded in the
ground, its rim flush with the plaster floor immediately
below the spout of the press's rectangular tank (Wilkin-
son, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin^ October, 1937,
p. 7, fig. 4). Standing in the bowl was a jar (81). A bowl
similar to 67 was found embedded in the floor of a nearby
room, apparently a kitchen. Its bottom had been knocked
out so that it could serve as a funnel to a drain. A compar-
able pot, more carefully made, and with a circular orifice
in the bottom, was obviously a flowerpot. Still another
bowl of much the same shape and size as 67, and found in
the same location, contained the remains of a sheep's head.
Unglazed Ware
1:4
Other examples related to 67 are shown. Somewhat similar
pots were sometimes furnished with handles (95).
68 LID
D 24.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Simple flat-topped knob, not
pierced. Near the edge of the piece, between two deep cir-
cumscribing grooves, a line of deep indentations. Tenth
or eleventh century. Other lids of this type were found:
1:4
69 LID
D 37 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Red core, yellow surface. Simple loop handle with a gouge
beneath it. Molded decoration consisting of a circular
band of Kufic script reduced to a repetitive formula. Prob-
ably eleventh century,
70 LID
D 31.7 cm ; surface find
MMA 38.40.279
Gritty clay, reddish core, buff surface. Handle like that of
69, Molded decoration applied in two pieces, line of junc-
tion visible. The scene is of a lion attacking an ass, Al-
313
though this was probably repeated on the missing portion,
the remains indicate that the pose was not identical. Date
uncertain.
71 STORAGE JAR
H 34.5, W 31.6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
1:4
Pinkish buff core, warm gray surface. Slightly flaring neck
encircled by four rounded ridges, the uppermost being
the rim. High on the shoulder, a straight combed band
surmounted by a wavy combed band (comment on this
decoration at 56).
314
Unglazed Ware
72 TWO-HANDLED STORAGE JAR
H 38.7, W 29 cm ; Sabz Pushan
Discarded
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. Short wide neck,
heavy wide rim. A combed wavy band encircles the neck,
a combed wavy band and a straight band encircle the
shoulder. See 56 for comment on this decoration. Jars
much like 72 were also made with three handles (62).
Also used at Nishapur were two-handled jars with a much
narrower neck; some of these were decorated with simple
parallel bands of combed lines :
1:4
73 CANDLESTICK
H 33, W 13,3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.200
Reddish core, greenish surface. Conical hollow bottom
tapers to column. Column decorated at top with two
flanges. Lip projects outward horizontally, then turns
down vertically to form a deep overhang. Probably tenth
century, though very similar pieces seem to have been
manufactured somewhat later. Unglazed candlesticks of
similar design have also been found at Merv (Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 357, fig. 80).
74 JAR
H 34.25, W 21.25 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Coarse pink clay with greenish yellow surface. Elongated
body with no clearly defined neck. An uncommon shape
in Nishapur. Decoration encircling shoulder : two widely
spaced combed bands with a combed wavy band between.
Found by a bathhouse that operated in the eleventh cen-
tury.
1:4
75 CANDLESTICK
H 35.3, W 16.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.122
Buff core, greenish surface. A flap of clay was applied and
crimped over the flat base, a band of clay crimped around
the column below the everted, flattened lip.
76 JAR
H 23.4, W 13.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.185
1:3
Unglazed Ware
Gritty clay, greenish surface. Poorly made, with a some-
what oval section. Flat base. Everted lip. Another example
of an uncommon shape (compare 74). Found in the low-
est, ninth-century level.
77 JAR
H 20,8, W 14.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish core, pale greenish surface. Well potted. Ovoid
body, neck tapering slightly to lip that projects a little and
slopes down. Neck decorated with circumscribing grooves.
Probably tenth century. Similar jars were found in all the
mounds of Nishapur ; the drawing is of one from the Vil-
lage Tepe :
1:3
78 JAR
H 21.6, W 13.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.276
Reddish buff surface. Poorly potted. Flat base. Concave
neck, everted lip. The potter did not bother to smooth
away the grooves on the body. In some jars of this type,
such as one from Tepe Madraseh, the marks of the potter's
fingers are to be seen on the inside rather than the outside.
Pieces like 78 in shape, though less tall, were found. Some
examples have a more carefully constructed lip.
316
Unglazed Ware
79 PITCHER
H 23, W 13.1 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.102
Greenish surface with blush of red from close packing in
kiln. Flat base. High shoulder, tapering neck. Two grooves
encircle the neck, two straight combed bands, the shoul-
der. Tenth or eleventh century. Other pitchers resembling
this were found, some with two handles and some deco-
rated with combed lines :
1:3
80 JAR
H 24, W 20.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Well-cleaned reddish clay. Ovoid body, slightly tapered
neck, projecting lip. At the neck, a raised collar decorated
with sloping indentations. On the neck, a band of combed
waves. The raised collar is a feature of Sasanian pottery
excavated at Qasr-i-abu Nasr (Hauser, Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art Bulletin^ December, 1934, Sec. 2, p^. 12, fig. 15,
p. 15, fig. 21).
81 JAR
H 26,8, W 21.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.123
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. Flat base. Projecting
lip and rilled neck, the central rill having a series of de-
pressions probably made by a fingernail. On the upper
shoulder, a zigzag. Around the upper part of the body,
horizontal grooves. Between the upper ones, a series of
shallow diagonal depressions. Between the lower grooves,
two combed waves that form a braid. The lower part of the
body was pared with a tool. Found standing in 67.
82 JAR
H 23.2, W 20.9 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MMA 36.20.58
Reddish surface. Ovoid body with short neck flaring to
round lip. Beneath the lip, a circumscribing broad groove.
On the shoulder, a band of decoration consisting of diag-
onal gouges between two incised lines. A change of angle
near the base of the jar suggests a foot. Ajar of smaller size
and of a form not represented among the preceding exam-
ples came from a deep-level pit in the Village Tepe. It is
interesting in that it has a slight projection about a third
of the way down from the rim, the greatest width occurring
about two-thirds of the way down. The projection is also
to be seen in Sogdian pottery of the seventh and eighth
centuries (Marshak, Trudy ^ V, p. 183, fig. 4, no. 1).
83 DISH
D 10.7, H 6 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Pinkish surface. From small, flat base, sides flare out, then,
halfway up, become nearly vertical, A circumscribing
groove just above the change of angle. Flat, everted rim.
Evidently used by a painter, the dish contains blue pig-
ment. Many quite similar dishes were found, none glazed.
In some the upper part of the body and the groove were-
cut by vertical gouges.
Unglazed Ware
317
mmmmm
1:3
84 DISH
D 13.5, H 5.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 39.40.110
BufF surface. Flat base. Sides flare out in lower third, then
rise nearly vertically to flat, everted rim. No decoration.
Used as a paint pot; contained cinnabar. Other dishes of
this shape had a simple decoration on the rim. No dishes
of this shape w^ere glazed. A very similar dish from the
same site contained blue pigment. Yet another paint pot,
1:3
found at the Qanat Tepe, had the inside rim grooved.
Other low dishes were decorated and were not used as
paint pots. An example from Tepe Madraseh has a sloping
piecrust rim, decorated with grooves and wavy bands ; the
1:3
base is convex rather than flat. A more sophisticated vari-
ant has combed decoration on the outside and a convex
base furnished with three short legs ; examples of this form
were found in the Qanat Tepe and at Sabz Pushan :
1:3
85 DISH
D 15.5, H 4.5 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.20
1:3
Pinkish surface. Well-defined foot. Sides flare widely, then
turn upward, rising to a low, thin rim. Dishes of this gen-
eral shape were common, unglazed and glazed.
86 COOKING POT
D 19.6, H 16.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
1:3
1:3
318
Gritty clay, reddish core, warm gray to buff surface. Dis-
colored to shoulder by use. Thinly potted. Base convex.
Walls rise hemispherically to sharp change of angle at
midpoint, then narrow with slight concavity. Two flat,
wide, narrow-waisted handles decorated with a single in-
cised line connect with the projecting lip. A common
shape for Nishapur cooking pots. Some were of larger size,
all have surprisingly thin walls. The decorative line on the
handle is not always present. Distinct from this type with
sloping shoulder and wide handles are others with almost
spherical body and two hook-shaped handles affixed im-
mediately below the neck:
1:6
87 PAN
D 24.6, H 8.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Buff core, greenish surface. An unusual shape, the walls
flaring from flat base to projecting lip. Two horizontal loop
handles. Vessel shows no sign of use over fire. Probably
ninth century. Pans without handles are conspicuously
fewer in Nishapur than at the late Sasanian site of Qasr-i-
abu Nasr, and all were of inferior workmanship to 87.
They have a common feature, a rather wide rim sloping
Unglazed Ware
1:6
downward and out to afford a finger grip. One example
had a central orifice and presumably served as a flowerpot.
88 COOKING POT
D 10.4, H 9.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.45
Gray clay. Chopped straw was added to it; as a result
there are minute holes on the surface. Flat base, vertical
sides. Two circumscribing grooves near lip, two horizon-
tal handles, each adorned on top with a series of indented
strokes. A vessel of similar shape was found at Merv
(Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 226, fig. 7). A cylindrical vessel
without handles, given a projecting rim, was found at
Sabz Pushan :
1:3
89 CRUCIBLE (?)
W 13.1, H 9.4 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
Reddish yellow surface, fire-blackened on underside. Hem-
ispherical in shape, with three legs. The flat projecting
rim is divided into three flanges. The missing side of the
vessel was undoubtedly furnished with a spout. The
flanges (top surface) have a molded decoration of zigzags
and dotted circles. Projections remaining on the two op-
posed flanges suggest that something has broken off.
Probably this was a loop handle of clay, resembling the
handles on bronze vessels of similar shape of the twelfth to
fourteenth century, found in Daghestan, Gurgan, and
elsewhere. For a small bronze vessel of this type and for
others, including one of stone, see Wilkinson, Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin^ June, 1944, p. 288.
Unglazed Ware
319
90 BOWL
D 18.2, H 11.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
1:3
Reddish core, greenish surface. Projecting downturned
rim. Sides taper to narrow rounded bottom. Flat base.
Decoration of circumscribing grooves just above midpoint.
Many bowls of this general shape were made in Nishapur
in the tenth century. Some have slightly concave sides,
some taper even more toward the base after the fashion of
93. Some have grooves immediately below the sloping lip.
1:3
/
1:3
91
JAR
H 12.8, W 13.8 cm ; ViUage Tepe
MIB
High shoulder tapering sharply to small foot. Vertical
neck, slightly projecting lip. Decoration of circumscribing
grooves on shoulder. Small jars of this shape were often
given a lead glaze, brown or green (Group 9, 10) or an
alkaline glaze (no example illustrated).
92 COOKING POT
H 12.4, W 13.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA' "38.40.220
Buff clay containing black grit. Flat base, round belly,
short wide neck, thick, flat rim marked here and there
with a horizontal groove. Two faint grooves encircle the
belly. A type of vessel much used in the ninth and tenth
centuries. Among several variations, one was provided
1:3
with a twisted decoration on the lip. Others are more elon-
gated in form but have the same characteristic flat base,
for example, one from Sabz Pushan. Another from Sabz
Pushan had a stepped shoulder. Still another form is elon-
1:3
1:3
320
Unglazed Wear
gated to the point of resembling a situla; this vessel has a
convex base, a wide rim, and two lug handles connected
with a band of incised decoration:
1:3
93 BOWL
D 18.5, H 11 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Red core, greenish surface. Sides taper with slight con-
vexity to flat base. Rim projects deeply inward, sloping
down. A common ninth-century type. The deep, wide
groove on the outside wall, an unusual feature, probably
served as an aid in lifting, substituting for the more usual
projecting lip present on 90 and in a variation, also from
Sabz Pushan :
1:3
94 COOKING POT
H 19.7, D 21.7 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Gritty clay with grayish surface. Bottom blackened by use.
Globular body with thick projecting lip, affording grip for
lifting. Probably ninth century. The shape and lip were
common in the Sasanian period, as confirmed by the Met-
ropolitan's finds at Qasr-i-abu Nasr, and they continued
for centuries thereafter. Another type of cooking vessel,
later than ninth century, has a much wider top with un-
sloping lip. An example from Tepe Alp Arslan had the lip
decorated with notches and a wavy band between two hor-
izontal grooves at the shoulder:
1:3
Unglazed Ware
321
95 TWO-HANDLED POT
H 19.8, W 28.1 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Reddish core, buff surface. High shoulder with strong
taper to base. Wide, short, concave neck, projecting rim.
Neck decorated with combed wavy band. Vessels of the
same general shape were made without handles (67) and
some, made with handles, were furnished on one side with
a short round spout with a flat lip ; an example from the
Village Tepe is shown :
1:3
96 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
W 14.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.612
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. The rim, to which
decorative knobs are added, projects slightly outward. Be-
neath it, between circumscribing grooves, is a band of in-
cised Vs. In shape the bowl was probably like 67 or 99.
A fragment of a related bowl had a more elaborate addition
on the rim; a series of rings standing on edge, each sur-
mounted by a knob, with an additional knob at the junc-
1:3
tion of each pair of rings. Another had an openwork band
of rings with a stamped decoration beneath (rather than
incised decoration), the whole surmounted by a rim of
1
1:3
half-rings. Still another had a serrate rim, each triangle
pierced by a triangular hole.
97 BOWL FRAGMENT (rim)
H 11.4 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.595
Another fragment of this vessel is in the Teheran museum.
Hard gritty clay, warm gray core, pale neutral gray sur-
face. Rim projects outward and slopes down. The band of
decoration, appearing between two circumscribing grooves
supplemented by wavy grooves, is made of an applied
molded ornament, a fish, head up, tail down. Between the
repetitions are double wavy lines made with a two-pointed
tool. Unique in the pottery of Nishapur, this bowl resem-
bles molded vessels found in Merv, where fish often ap-
peared in the decoration of unglazed mold-made pottery
(Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 2, 1958, pp. 78—
91, fig. 8, nos. 1-3; Lunina, Trudy, XI, p. 308, fig. 51,
top, p. 309, fig. 52). 97 was probably imported from Merv.
98 JAR FRAGMENT (rim)
W 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.611
Another fragment of this vessel is in the Teheran museum.
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. Rim projects out-
ward and slopes down. Decoration, arranged in horizontal
bands, made by indenting, gouging, cutting, scratching,
and pricking. At the top, two rows of square indentations.
322
Unglazed Ware
Beneath this, a band of contiguous X's, made by gouging
eUipses from the surface and cutting triangles from the
areas between them. Next, a plain band and a third row of
square indentations. Beneath this, a wide inscribed braid
with a pricked background. Such braids (see also 43) were
popular in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
99 FLOWERPOT
H 14.4, D 16.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
1:3
Greenish surface. Wide top with sides tapering to a com-
paratively small bottom and slightly flaring foot. Flat base.
Bottom has a circular drain hole. The projecting rim was
once ornamented with six hollow-top knobs (compare 96).
Beneath the rim, superimposed on two circumscribing
grooves, are rosettes consisting of indentations made by a
blunt point. Found in an upper-level well datable to the
eleventh or twelfth century. A glazed flowerpot of the same
general shape was also found (Group 9, 36).
100 FRAGMENT
W 10.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Decoration in horizontal bands. The X-like ornament at
the top made by the method described at 98. Beneath this,
a band with dotted center line, probably made with a rou-
lette. Next, a large foliate design incised on a pricked
ground. This last is undoubtedly related to designs on
seventh- or eighth-century metalwork (Smirnov, Argen-
terie orientale, pi. Lxv, no. 110). Found in the same well
as 99.
101 JAR FRAGMENT (rim)
H 14.3 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Rim projects outward. The
ornament at the top is defined by means of ellipses and
triangles cut from the clay; the remaining surfaces are
decorated with small indentations, perhaps made with a
roulette. Beneath this, a line of vertical ovals formed of
small indentations, apparently stamped. Next, a wavy
combed band between two horizontal grooves.
102 OBJECT OF UNKNOWN USE
H 17.6, W 18.4 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MMA 36.20.44
Reddish surface. Flat base, vertical sides, thick outcurving
lip. Five rows of small indentations, possibly made with a
roulette, encircle the piece — one near the base, three on
the upper half of the body, one on the outer surface of the
lip. The inner surface of the lip is heavily grooved. On one
side of the vessel a wide vertical slot has been cut almost to
the bottom. A flowerpotlike hole pierces the bottom. At
the base, beneath the slot, there is a circular depression. A
unique piece, discovered in a potter's workshop.
103 WATER BOTTLE
W 24.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
Discarded
Reddish core, buff surface. Probably similar in shape to
106. At the center of the domed top, a double-grooved
circle. From this, three double-outlined bands radiate. A
poorly drawn cable design is incised within them. A sec-
ond double-grooved circle appears at the shoulder. Prob-
ably late tenth century.
104 STORAGE JAR FRAGMENT (neck)
W 20 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.453
Reddish core, light greenish gray surface. The incised
decoration on the neck consists of outlined Kufic letters,
most of them containing hatching, and a clumsily drawn
undulating stem with leaves emerging top and bottom.
The letters appear both below and above the stem; some
of the upper letters are written horizontally, some verti-
cally. On the shoulder is an incised Kufic inscription
reading al-salam (peace), an area containing indented
dots and triangles, and larger triangles formed by V-
shaped grooves. Late tenth century.
105 STORAGE JAR FRAGMENT
W 17.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.454
Buff surface, inside and outside. Decoration, crudely
done, consists of combed horizontal lines enclosing a
wavy line with pricking on either side of it, some horizon-
tal lines of indentations, and holes placed singly and in
threes, made with a pointed tool. Supplementing this,
stamped disks of clay, alternately large and small, have
Unglazed Ware
323
been affixed around the shoulder. The decoration on the
larger disk consists essentially of rings of various sizes, on
the smaller, a five-pointed star. The addition to pottery of
such plaques was an ancient practice, known in Iraq in
the Parthian period and even earlier.
106 a,b WATER BOTTLE
H 18.4, W 21.6 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 38.40.146
Greenish surface. The upper portion of the vessel, made
in a mold, has a central medallion containing the head of
senmurv^ the mythological creature so popular in the
Sasanian period. (The head, with pricked-up ears, is best
seen when the illustration is turned so that the vessel's
spout points to the right.) The medallion is encircled by a
band of stars, a band of radial strokes, a broad band of
lozenges, and a double groove. Probably twelfth or thir-
teenth century.
107 JAR FRAGMENT
W 16 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.452
Reddish core, greenish buff surface. The pattern in the
top register, consisting of pseudo Kufic with foliations,
was incised with a blunt point. So, too, were the two large
guilloches farther down. The three small guilloches that
alternate with the larger elements were made with a die
whose imperfections regularly recur. See also 108.
108 JAR FRAGMENT
W 18.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
A second fragment of the jar represented by 107. One of
the large guilloches is repeated. The other bands, incised
with a round point, contain hatched triangles, a chain
pattern of half-circles, half-leaves arranged in a wavelike
fashion, and horizontal lyre shapes with crosshatched
centers. Alternating with these elements are six of the die-
stamped guilloches seen on 107. Hatched triangles re-
sembling those of 108 appear in fragments of unglazed
ware from Afrasiyab in the State Museum of Oriental Folk
Art, Moscow.
109 BOTTLE
H 9.8 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.235
High-fired, very hard, nonporous clay, dark gray surface.
Rounded, slightly pointed base. Sides taper up to narrow
neck and rounded top; neck groovedjust beneath the top. No
decoration. One of many such bottles found in the area of
a kiln that evidently produced them. For comment on the
probable purpose of this vessel and others like it (110-
117), pages 293-294.
110 BOTTLE
H 11.75 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MIB
Greenish black surface. Sphero-conical shape, rounded
top, groove around neck. Four pairs of vertical grooves are
evenly spaced around the body. Between them, a die-
stamped lozenge filled with a cruciform design tipped
with fleurs-de-lys. At the corners of the lozenge is added a
round depression made with a point.
111 BOTTLE
H 10.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.233
Greenish black surface. Sphero-conical shape, rounded
top, deep groove around neck. Circumscribing grooves at
shoulder and belly. Superimposed on them, descending
from the shoulder, some freely incised forms. A related
bottle with similar grooves lacks the additional forms. A
fragment of a somewhat similar bottle found at Shahr-i-
Daqianus (Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances ^ pi. xxii,
no. 241) has such grooves and freely drawn forms and, in
addition, some incised circles.
112 BOTTLE (top and half of body missing)
H 11.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.240
Hard reddish clay covered with buff slip. Wall about one
and one-half centimeters thick, the usual measure for such
vessels. A slight blunt projection at the base. On the sides,
deep vertical gouges alternate with applied lengths of
herringbone. Traces remain of an additional painted deco-
ration: vertical red stripes with black outlines, converging
toward the base. A bottle of somewhat similar shape deco-
rated with applied lengths of crosshatching was found at
Dvin, Russian Armenia, where large numbers of these
bottles were made (Dzhanpoladian, Sovetskaya Arkheolo-
giya, 1, 1958, p. 203, fig. 2, no. 16).
113 BOTTLE
H 12 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.278
Hard clay, dark grayish surface. Sphero-conical shape.
The nipplelike top lacks an encircling groove. Three cir-
cumscribing rings on the shoulder. Otherwise, no decora-
tion. The absence of the groove at the neck, rare in Nisha-
pur, is not unknown in vessels of this sort from other sites.
324
Unglazed Ware
114 BOTTLE (waster)
H 11.8 cm ; kiln at Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.237
Greenish black surface. A variation in shape, in that the
central part of the body has nearly vertical sides. The
piece was damaged in the kiln, the top bent to one side,
the shoulder adhering to another vessel. A great many
wasters, found on the surface, marked the site of the kiln.
1:3
Two examples of the general shape of 114, with waisted
bodies and incised decoration, were found at Sabz Pushan.
115 BOTTLE (neck and top missing)
H 15.2 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.241
Nearly black clay with light surface. Spalling has oc-
curred, suggesting that the piece was covered with slip,
but the effect may simply be the result of lavish use of
water during manufacture. Mold-made. Shaped to repre-
sent a fish, with four ^^fins^' projecting from the sides and
the base bifurcated to imitate a tail. Despite this base, the
bottle rests in the characteristic position of such vessels,
with its orifice pointed upward. The neck seems to have
been grooved in the usual manner. Shallow grooves cir-
cumscribe the shoulder and belly. The band between them
is adorned with a zigzag made with a roulette; in its tri-
angular spaces are small triangular indentations. The
lower half of the body is covered with stamped circles
made of dots. The "fins" are adorned with a herringbone
of dotted lines.
Bottles in the form offish have also been found in Afra-
siyab (Kostalsky Collection, Hermitage Museum) and in
Akhsyket, Uzbekistan (Dzhanpoladian, Sovetskaya Ark-
heologiya, 1, 1958, pp. 201-213, fig. 6).
116 BOTTLE
H 14.6 cm ; North Horn
MMA 38.40.277
Dull reddish core, greenish gray surface. Deep groove
around neck, clearly defined shoulder. Base protrudes like
a knob. Die-stamped decoration on sides, arranged in six
vertical bands. Three of these contain a length of rosettes
consisting of a disk surrounded by spots — all impressed
by a single long die. This pattern is bordered on either
side by a unit of concentric circles, made with repeated
impressions of a small die. The alternate bands consist of
a guilloche flanked by plain circular depressions. Beneath
this is a stamped circular design, divided into quadrants
by two notched Vs. Two of the quadrants are filled with a
circular spot; the opposed quadrants contain a V.
117 BOTTLE
H 15 cm ; kiln at Qanat Tepe
MIB
Dull reddish clay, greenish gray surface. Rounded bottom
without point. Upper half of body slightly concave. Nar-
row shoulder, neck formed by deep groove. Two circum-
scribing lines just below the shoulder, a projecting ridge
near the midpoint, and two more lines beneath this. Other
bottles of this shape with the lines but without the ridge
were found in the same location.
118 COIN BANK
H 5.6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.228
Greenish surface. A simple, undecorated spherical vessel
furnished with a small flat base and a slit for coins on the
top. Several such banks were found.
119 TOY HEN
H 2.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.206
Greenish buff surface. There are three legs, one at the
front, two at the back.
120 TOY (?) FRAGMENT
H 2.5 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Greenish buff* surface. The-head of an elephant (?), per-
haps part of a toy, perhaps part of an applied decoration
on a vessel. A small ivory elephant was found in the same
site, and elsewhere in Nishapur a stone lamp in the form
of an elephant was found.
Unglazed Ware
325
121 DISH
D 5.3, H 3.3 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.227
Greenish surface. Flat base, flat rim. No decoration. Per-
haps a toy, perhaps not. Such small pieces were produced
in considerable number (131—133).
127 ANIMAL HEAD
H 5.8 cm ; South Horn
MMA 40.170.165
BufF clay, greenish surface. Once projected as an orna-
ment from the side of a molded pitcher or jar. Probably
late twelfth or early thirteenth century.
122 WHISTLE
H 6, L 9 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.116
Reddish clay, buff surface. In the form of an animal with
curled horns flat on head. Forelegs but no hind legs. Bi-
furcated tail forms mouthpiece. Whistle vent beneath
body, fingerhole on either side of body.
128 TOY PITCHER (tip of spout missing)
H 7.5 cm ; Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Greenish gray surface. The globular body, projecting col-
lar, and flaring neck are typical of ninth-century pitchers
of the usual size (8). The neck is relatively taller than
usual, however, and the larger vessels were not made
with spouts.
123 TOY PITCHER
H 5.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.50
Greenish gray surface. Rounded base with three feet, sides
tapering directly to (missing) lip. This shape does not
occur in pitchers of the usual size.
124 TOY PITCHER
H 3.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish surface. Clearly defined foot, low, wide body, tall
flaring neck, thumbknob on handle. A rosette of simple
petals is imprinted on the base. This shape of pitcher oc-
curs in the usual size (32).
125 ANIMAL-HEAD PITCHER SPOUT
H 4.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
The pouring hole opens at the mouth. Date uncertain.
Similar heads occur in the buff ware (Group 1, 72) and
monochrome ware (Group 9, 1). Comment on animal-
head vessels from elsewhere than Nishapur appears at the
buff ware example.
126 MONKEY HEAD
H 3.7 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.162
Reddish clay. A toy or an ornament. Date uncertain.
129 TOY PITCHER
H 7 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 39.40.88
Greenish gray surface. Vessel somewhat squat, with high,
wide neck and raised foot. The shape suggests late tenth
or early eleventh century.
130 TOY HORSE (forefeet restored)
L 11 cm ; Sabz Pushan (surface find)
MMA 38.40.102
Greenish surface. Simply modeled, but with the mane
well developed and the legs extended. Saddle formed
from two added pieces of clay. Probably once provided
with a rider. A surface find, of uncertain date. Such pieces
have long been favored in the Near East and are still made
today in many places.
131 JAR
H 5.7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.209
Reddish clay, exterior surface red and green in patches.
Flat base. Sides flare to prominent shoulder. Lip extends
laterally over groove that forms the neck. Probably tenth
century. Vessels of this shape and small size were manu-
factured in quantity. Some were glazed, usually in plain
colors. Quite possibly they were used as lamps.
132 JAR
H 8.1 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 38.40.302
Red clay, greenish surface. More carefully made than
most such small vessels. The barrel-shaped body tapers
to a flat base. Near the top, two circumscribing lines, a
326
Unglazed Ware
rounded ridge above them. Short neck, outcurved lip.
Late tenth century.
133 JAR
H 6.6 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
1:3
Barrel-shaped body, flat base, short neck, everted lip.
Tenth or eleventh century. Small jars like this were quite
common, with slight variations in shape of body and lip.
They were probably not toys.
134 TOY PITCHER
H 10.9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.222
Greenish surface. A diminutive version of 19, the shoulder
marked by a sharp change of angle. Flat base. Finger-
made grooves on the narrow flaring neck.
135 TOY PITCHER
H 10.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.193
Buff clay, greenish surface. Comparable in shape to 134,
but better made. Flat base, rounded shoulder, flaring neck
with very thin lip. For no known reason, the toys, unlike
the full-size versions, were often furnished with spouts.
136 TOY PITCHER
H 12.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Warm gray surface. The ridged neck relatively taller than
usual in Nishapur pitchers. Lip slightly everted. Well-
defined foot.
137 FRAGMENT OF HEMISPHERICAL MOLD
W 9 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay. Part of a mold for unglazed pottery, probably
for the lower half of a pitcher such as 163 or 166. Such
molds were thrown on the wheel like any thick -walled
bowl, then stamped with patterns, hardened in the sun,
and fired. For a complete example, see 143a. Near the
rim of 137 is a band filled with a square of four adjoined
curls. The die producing this unit was impressed repeat-
edly to make the band. Beneath it are vertical rectangular
panels, also stamped by a single die, containing a scroll-
like decoration.
138 FRAGMENT OF HEMISPHERICAL MOLD
W 6 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay. At the rim, between two horizontal grooves, a
die-stamped unit of overlapping triple circles alternating
with two pricked dots. Beneath, a zigzag formed of a
hatched line between two straight lines, the triangular
spaces above and below filled with impressed circles.
139 FRAGMENT OF HEMISPHERICAL MOLD
W 11 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay. Design formed from repeated stampings of two
dies. The upper one, square, produced two interlocked
links; the lower one, elongated, a vertical guilloche.
Bands of the interlocked links, used in various combina-
tions, also occur on 157, 161, 163, 170, 177, 181, 182.
They are also found on the similar ware of Merv (Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 306, fig. 50, upper left; p. 339, fig. 70,
upper).
140 FRAGMENT OF HEMISPHERICAL MOLD
W 7 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Pinkish clay. Die-stamped decoration. Upper row, small
ducks. Center row, owls, a circular ornament between
them. Lower row, a vertical biconvex form adorned with
a circular ornament with featherlike projections above
and below.
141 FRAGMENT OF ONE-PIECE MOLD
H 8.7 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MMA 40.170.300
Poorly cleaned, strongly reddish clay, yellowish green
surface. Bottom of the mold, which has a flat base, is
unpierced and undecorated. The design, filling a broad
band on the wall, is dominated by large circles whose wide
rims are die-stamped repetitions of a doubly encircled
star. The center areas of the circle are filled with cross-
hatching containing dots. The areas between the circles
are filled with a scalelike motif, each scale bearing a tiny
circle.
Unglazed Ware
327
142 MOLD FRAGMENT
W 12.2 cm ; Falaki (surface find)
MIB
Smooth reddish clay. In the center is a figure composed
of four petals or hearts, each with a circular excrescence
on its outer edge. The petals, adorned with tiny, stamped
stars, are separated by four stamped leafy stems that make
a cross. The design is surmounted by a fleur-de-lys. At
the left, a zigzag of leafy stems, made by the same die used
for the cross, the spaces on one side filled with stamped
triangles, on the other with stamped quatrefoils. At the
right, a curved stem with many excrescences. Pricked
ground at the right and in the center. Perhaps eleventh
or twelfth century. The patterns are unlike those on the
molds found at the South Horn (137-140), even though
the two locations are not far apart. No evidence of kilns
was found at Falaki. The curved stem on this fragment is
reminiscent of pottery designs at Merv (Lunina, Trudy'^
XI, p. 234, fig. 9, top).
143 a HEMISPHERICAL MOLD
H 7.5, D 17.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 39.40.39
143b Modern cast
Reddish clay, greenish surface. Die-stamped decoration
in three bands. In the top band, "sunbursts" — small cir-
cles made of radiating strokes, producing a motif with a
depressed center. In the center band, quadrangular
groups of four pear shapes, two pointing up, two down.
Tiny rings are stamped beside and between these shapes.
Between the units of pear shapes, a vertical band of braid.
In the bottom band, a fleur-de-lys-like ornament. Found
at a high level near a prayer hall, unaccountably far from
any known potter's shop. Probably twelfth century. Sun-
bursts like those of the upper band occur in the unglazed
pottery of Samarra {Excavations at Samarra, 1936—1939^
II, pi. XXXVI, no. 9).
144 DIE
H 2.75 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170,416
Rosette design made of lines and pricking. Elaborate pat-
terns were made in molds with such units. For a pitcher
ornamented with rosettes from a similar die, 187.
145 FRAGMENT
W 5.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Reddish clay, buff surface. Mold-made. The circular
opening at the top of the vessel is edged with a zigzag
band. Beneath this, in a band defined by two lines of dot-
ting, a pseudo-Kufic inscription written with a dotted
line. Beneath this, a row of crosshatched triangles with
fringed borders. Another fragment of this vessel was
found half a mile distant from 145, in the Village Tepe,
in the remains of a large house or palace. The second
piece indicated that the vessel had vertical sides begin-
ning immediately below the triangles seen here. Date
uncertain.
146 FRAGMENT
W 4.5 cm ; Vineyard Tepe
MIB
Brownish clay, buff surface. Mold -made. Contour suggests
that the original shape was pyramidal. Decoration made
up of curling stems, rosettes, bunches of grapes (?), and
a zigzag. The dividing lines are formed of a miniature
herringbone. Probably ninth century. Herringbone lines,
also to be seen on 148 and 151, occur on some of the
unglazed molded ware of Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von
Samarra^ p. 14, fig. 41).
147 DISH FRAGMENTS (base)
H 5.1 cm ; Qanat Tepe
Left: MMA 40,170.586
Right: MIB
Gritty clay, buff on inside surface, greenish on outside
(illustrated). Mold-made. Both the mold and clay were
used very wet, for which reason the relief decoration has
a different consistency from the body, and some of it has
broken off. Decoration in concentric circles. Innermost
circle filled with double concentric circles with small,
pricked bosses between them — a small version of the
"sunburst" motif on 143. Then, in sequence, a band of
small, narrow herringbone lines, side by side, a band of
pyramidal bunches of "grapes" with pricked centers, and
a band of palmettelike forms, with one of the small bosses
of the innermost band repeated at their bases. On the
vertical wall of the dish is a decoration of arches formed
by a herringbone line, enclosing circles placed above
leaves. Ninth century. The herringbone lines of the sec-
ond band occur on some of the unglazed molded pottery
of Samarra (Sarre, Die Keramik von Samarra^ fig. 43).
148 PITCHER FRAGMENT
H 13.6 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Mold-made. The decoration, crudely drawn in the mold,
consists mainly of pointed arches outlined in herringbone
and filled with a column of lozenges and borders of con-
tiguous semicircles. An area filled with a scalelike pattern
of semicircles occurs around the loop handle. There may
have been a second handle opposite the remaining one.
Date uncertain.
328
Unglazed Ware
149 DISH FRAGMENT
H 5.1 cm ; Qanat Tepe
MIB
Part of a low, vertical -sided dish, in shape like 150. Mold-
made. Decoration; at the top, a row of pointed arches
drawn in double-outlined curves. Within each arch is a
^^sunburst," a version of a motif seen on 143 and other
examples. Below a double horizontal line are the tops of
rounded arches or circles. Between them is a vertical lug,
applied after the vessel was removed from the mold. Prob-
ably ninth century. The added lugs (see also 150) were
probably an imitation of metalwork. Tear-shaped lugs
were common in metalwork of the Parthian period. Much
later, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they were a
characteristic decoration of Iranian bronze mortars.
150 DISH FRAGMENT
W 7 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish clay. Mold-made. Decoration in four registers
separated by horizontal lines. At top, poorly impressed,
a repeated form, apparently a palmette, alternating with
a group of two rosettes with stalklike projections above.
Second register, rosettes with semicircular curves above
them, alternating with a small ring above a boss. Third
register, rosettes and lozenges. Bottom register, poorly
impressed, a quatrefoil growing out of a small circle. For
comment on the added lugs, see 149.
151 FRAGMENT
H 6.1 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.587
Reddish clay, greenish surface. Piece is curved, original
shape hemispherical. Decoration has spalled, explanation
for this at 147. At top, a flowering plant of symmetrical
shape enclosed in a herringbone zigzag. Beneath this, a
band of rosettes between two herringbone lines. In Tehe-
ran is a fragment, presumably part of this vessel, deco-
rated with a wide Crosshatch of herringbone lines, the
lozenges filled with a small trefoil. A very similar ware,
dated to the eighth or ninth century, was discovered at
Merv (Zaurova, Trudy, XI, p. 210, fig. 26).
152 DISH FRAGMENT (base)
W 7.4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 39.40.14
Core and surface pinkish buff. Mold-made. Decoration in
concentric bands defined by rings. Center filled with a
circle of rings and a circle of sunbursts (for comment on
latter motif, see 143). Proceeding outward, a ring of cow-
rie shells end to end, a ring of sunbursts, a ring of square
quatrefoils, a ring of eight-petaled rosettes, another ring
of cowrie shells, and finally another ring of quatrefoils.
The vertical side of the dish (not illustrated) has a her-
ringbone zigzag like that seen on 151, with a circular blob
added at the junctions, and a band of cowrie shells
stamped side by side.
153 DISH FRAGMENT (base)
W 11.2 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish buff surface. Mold -made. Decoration in concen-
tric circles defined by rings. At center, an eight-petaled
rosette. Proceeding outward, a band of circular "blos-
soms"; a band of pear-shaped motifs in semicircular
curves, alternating with a small boss and a small ring
(compare 150); a band of heart shapes with a small pro-
jection in the V; a band of herringbone lines side by side
(compare 147), broken at wide intervals by a square
quatrefoil (compare bands of such quatrefoils in 152); a
band of herringboned biconvex forms side by side ; and
a band of double concentric circles. On the vertical wall
(not illustrated), double semicircles containing a rosette.
Probably ninth century. The herringboned biconvex
forms of the next to last band occur on a mold-made dish
from Samarra {Excavations at Samarra, 1936-1939^ II,
pL XXXVI, bottom figure), and the double concentric
rings of the last band are of a type to be seen on yellow
and green lustered dishes found in Susa (Koechlin, Les
Ceramiques, pi. xx, nos. 137, 140). A cover with similar
design to 153 is in the Nelson Gallery, Kansas City (Pope,
Survey, IV, pi. 195 A).
154 THREE-FOOTED DISH (restored)
D 16.5, H 4.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 38.40.224
Greenish surface. Mold-made. Flat bottom, nearly vertical
collar, flat rim. Decoration: an assembly of triangles form-
ing a large star, each triangle containing a large double
ring and three small rings; the six spaces outside the star
each contain a semicircle. Date uncertain.
155 PITCHER FRAGMENT
H 10.6, W 14.1 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay. The two hemispheres made in different molds,
then joined. The upper portion is encircled by a broad
band of braid, its two strands having raised outlines.
Above this, at the collar, a series of ducks. The lower por-
tion is decorated with a broad band of vertical double
lines. The raised-outline treatment, resulting either from
line drawing or line stamping in the mold, also occurs on
164, 168, 182, 186.
Unglazed Ware
329
156 a,b PITCHER FRAGMENT
H 8.1, D 12.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MMA 40.170.653
1:2
Greenish surface. Mold-made, two hemispheres joined.
On the upper portion two men in boots and long coats
stand face to face. Superimposed on their coats are the
legs of women (?) who are being held in the air. Behind
the man on the right is a ewer, behind the man on the
left a dish of pyramided fruit. Beyond the latter, the
remains of a circular band of Kufic inscription. The same
type of Kufic fills the interlaced bands that decorate the
lower hemisphere, the message consisting of benedictions,
including barakeh li sahibi (blessing on the owner). In the
spaces between the interlaced bands are pear shapes. The
base (156b) is decorated with a six-petaled rosette with
two curls, back to back, between the petals. No other
pitcher was found in this ware or any other with a deco-
rated base, for which reason this must be considered an
import. Probably eleventh or twelfth century.
Interlacing bands of inscription were common as a pot-
tery decoration from the eleventh to the thirteenth cen-
tury. They appear on some of the Egyptian luster ware
produced by the workshop of a Muslim during the first
half of the eleventh century (Bahgat Massoul, Cera-
mique musulmane^ pi. xiv, no. 5, pi. xvii, no. 2, pi. xx,
no. 1). Pottery of the same general type was found in
Shahr-i-Daqianus (Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances,
pi. xxm, fig. on right). In Iranian luster ware of the thir-
teenth century the inscriptions are no longer in Kufic but
in the cursive script known as Naskhi (Pope, Survey^ V,
pi. 718 B). The bands are also to be found in architectural
decoration: in Iran of the early twelfth century at Masjid-
i-Haydaria, Qazvin (ibid., pi. 512 D and, more spectac-
ularly, in Afghanistan on the minaret at Jam (Maricq,
Illustrated London News^ January 10, 1959, pp. 56, 57).
157 FRAGMENT
H 3.5, D 10 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MMA 36.20.15
Buff clay. Mold-made. Decoration in four encircling
bands. At the rim, a border of crescents made with two
dies. Below this, repeated, a lozenge with a depressed
center, a superior ^^circumflex," and a tail curved to one
side, alternating with a large raised dot. Next, a band of
a palmette enclosed in a heart, alternating with a small
palmette. The lowest band contains repetitions of two
interlocked links.
158 FRAGMENT
D 10 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Greenish buff surface. Mold-made. Perhaps the top of a
water bottle, shaped something like 106. Decoration in
concentric bands separated by raised rings. In the center,
a rosette. Then, in sequence, bosses with pierced centers,
fanlike forms with two dots between them, palmettes, and
a border band in which three elements are spaced on a
ground of raised dots : a miniature palm tree, a rosette of
eight petals, some of its petals hatched, the rest pricked
with a single dot, and a short vertical stem with a crude
trefoil at either end.
159 PEDESTALED DISH
H 11.6 cm ; near Tepe Alp Arslan
MIB
Buff clay. Mold-made. Upper square, vertical-sided por-
tion projects over lower hemispherical portion, which is
furnished with a hollow foot. (For the type of mold prob-
ably used, see Group 11, 68.) The rim projects in scallops.
Two of the vertical sides are decorated with a panel of
small X's, the other two with a zigzag whose spaces are
filled with lozenges. All the panels have side borders of
semicircles. The hemispherical portion, bordered at the
top with semicircles, is filled with downward -pointing
palmettes in heart shapes. This motif, inherited from the
Sasanian period, became very popular in various media
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the vessel can
be ascribed to this period. The motif is also found in the
black on white ware (Group 3, 77).
160 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 10.4 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
Buff body, greenish surface. The two hemispheres made
in different molds, then joined. Shape is that of a one-
handled pitcher. Body almost spherical. Wide mouth,
neck slightly concave, with plain narrow collar. Three
bands of decoration. The top one, filled with foliated
330
Unglazed Ware
Kufic, contains the words harakeh we , , , lisahibihi (bless-
ing and . . . to its owner). The other two are filled with
floral forms and rosettes contained within encircling
stems. Not a typical Nishapur piece. Probably eleventh
or twelfth century.
161 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 14.5 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay. Made in two flattened hemispherical molds.
Decoration, beginning at the top, consists of a narrow
band of rosettes in circles, a narrow band of spadelike
shapes containing palmettes, a wide band containing an
inscription in Naskhi against a dotted ground, a band of
rosettes (largely obliterated in the joining of the two parts
of the body), a band of interlocked links (see comment at
139), and at the bottom a band of circular medallions. The
dotting in the band of Naskhi was obviously added to pre-
vent the cursive script from looking weak in company
with the more densely patterned areas.
162 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 16.3 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MIB
Buff clay; Made in two flattened hemispherical molds. The
remains of the lower attachment of the handle are visible
on the junction of the halves. The upper portion, like that
of 161, bears a Naskhi inscription, but here the ground is
filled with small stars instead of dots. A narrower band of
decoration beneath this was obliterated by the potter. The
lower hemisphere is decorated with downward -pointing
pear shapes containing a stem with five leaves, a row of
line-enclosed palmettes pointing up between them, some
small rings added irregularly, and a band of short vertical
lines. There is a close relationship between the design of
the lower part of this pitcher and a fragment of molded
pottery of the twelfth or thirteenth century found at Merv
(Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^ 2, 1958, pp. 78-
91, fig. 10, no. 1).
163 PITCHER (neck and handle restored)
H 16.5, W 14.6 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MMA 36.20.25
Buff clay. Made in two hemispherical molds. The original
neck was undecorated. The handle attaches rather high
on the upper half of the body. The high foot is typical.
Four bands of interlocked links (see comment at 139)
encircle the body. On the upper half, between two of these
bands, are three bands of a triangular form, alternately
upright and inverted, composed of three ^^petals" and
three small circles. The comparable area on the lower
half contains vertical lengths of a simple braid. For
related braids, see 139, 143. The braid of 163 was found
in other pieces from the same area. The same type was
also used in Merv (Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheologiya^
2, 1958, pp. 78-91, fig. 5).
164 PITCHER FRAGMENT
H 15.8, W 16.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Buff clay. Made in two molds. Prominent on the upper
portion is a domed structure supported by nine columns.
This alternates with a large rosette, above which are two
small rosettes. The flat surfaces in relief are decorated
with crosshatching in low relief. The depressed areas
between the columns and within the petals of the large
rosette are adorned with a single line of Vs. Above this,
close to the neck, a band filled with notched lines in relief.
On the lower portion of the body is a crosshatched "pine-
cone" with half-leaves hanging from stems on either side.
This decoration is drawn in raised outline on a hatched
ground. Neither in composition nor detail is this design
typical of Nishapur. Probably an import. Perhaps eleventh
century.
165 PITCHER (most of neck restored)
H 17, W 16 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MMA 36.20.8
Greenish gray surface. Made in two molds of unequal
measure; greatest width low on body. High foot. Flaring
neck with convex profile ; a groove near the lip. At the top
of the body, a band of downward-pointing lotus like forms
alternating with stars, both motifs common in this ware.
Next, the principal band, an inscription in Nashki reading
%zz we iqbal we salameh we sa^ adet (glory, prosperity,
security, and happiness). Diacritical marks are present,
though they are not easily distinguishable from the small
rings that dot the ground. Beneath the inscription is a
line of stars contained in swags. The lower portion of the
body is decorated with vertical lengths of a large herring-
bone. The unglazed molded ware of Merv also employs
rings as a background motif (Lunina, Trudy^ XI, p. 339,
fig, 70, upper), though less often than the Nishapur ware.
166 PITCHER (neck and handle restored)
H 17.4, W 16.3 cm ; kiln at South Horn
MMA 36.20.7
Buffish gray surface. Made in two molds. At the top of the
upper portion, a band of the interlocked link motif (see
comment at 139). Next, a band of a poorly impressed
pear-shaped motif, with a dot filling the space between the
upper points. The principal band contains three motifs
on a dotted ground: a unit of concentric pear shapes, a
bird in profile, and a bearded man sitting cross-legged.
Unglazed Ware
331
The lower portion of the body, beneath a motif largely
obliterated by the join, is decorated with vertical lengths
of a scroll-like motif quite similar to that seen on 137.
The style of the seated man suggests that the dies used
to make molds for unglazed pottery were sometimes used,
or sometimes resembled those used, in making the molds
for alkaline-glazed vessels (Group 11, 55).
167 FRAGMENT
W 7.6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. Guilloche similar
to that on a mold from kiln at South Horn (139) but with
the strands more closely knit. The motif, a popular one,
generally appears on the lower portions of mold-made
vessels. From the top level, probably twelfth century.
168 FRAGMENT
W 5.6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Brownish core, greenish surface. Mold-made. Probably
from near the neck of a pitcher. A band of rosettes and a
running border of leaflike forms with raised outlines (com-
ment on raised-outline technique at 155). Probably
twelfth century.
169 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made, from the area of
the join. The upper (?) portion has a dotted ground, a
treelike motif, and a medallion containing small rings.
The lower (?) portion is decorated with small triangular
motifs flanked by small rings. Probably twelfth century.
170 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 8.4 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. Bands of decora-
tion separated by raised lines. Two are filled with a
pointed palmette alternating with a pair of starlike bosses,
the third filled with a version of the oft-seen interlocked
link motif. Probably twelfth century.
171 FRAGMENT
W 5.6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
Discarded
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. A band contain-
ing lengths of guilloche side by side, with a small ring
placed between the lower ends. Probably twelfth century.
172 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 10.4 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Buff body and surface. Mold-made. At the top, a series of
notched lines, arranged diagonally (compare 176). Be-
neath, a band of triple, six-petaled rosettes (compare 176,
figure at top) of a type not found in the pieces by the kiln
at South Horn (137-140). Probably twelfth century.
173 PITCHER FRAGMENT (shoulder)
W 10.6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.438
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. At the collar, a
simple ring in relief. Next, a ring of rosettes, almost
effaced. Next, two rings of sunbursts (for comment on
these, 143). Below these, a ring of blurred rosettes (?)
and a ring of birds, head to tail, with pricked decoration.
Similar birds appear on 174 and 175. Probably twelfth
century.
174 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 9.9 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.602
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. On the shoulder
is a line of birds like those on 173. Beneath the join, the
remains of a small repeated motif, a band filled with an
undulating stem with curling extensions, and a band of
a notched motif. Probably twelfth century.
175 FRAGMENT
W 10 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Reddish core, buff surface. Mold-made. The motif in the
upper register consists of a pear shape around which are
disposed four lotus forms alternating with a leaflike form.
In the spaces between these motifs, stars. In the lower
register, a procession of birds like those of 173 and 174,
Probably twelfth century.
176 FRAGMENT
W 8.5 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Brownish core, buff surface. Mold-made. In the center, a
large rosette in the style of the ones on 172. This is sur-
rounded by a band of notched lines in a herringbone
pattern (compare 172). Beneath this, a band with "seed-
pods" side by side. Next, a band of small palmettes, then
a band with the compound motif and stars seen on 175.
It is not unlikely that 175 and 176 are fragments of vessels
made in the same mold.
332
Unglazed Ware
The herringbone pattern of notched lines also occurs
in the molded, unglazed pottery of Samarra (Sarre, Die
Keramik von Samarra, p. 14, fig. 43).
177 FRAGMENT
W 7 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.601
Brownish core, greenish surface. Mold-made. In shape,
slightly convex. Decoration in concentric bands around
a central medallion containing a Solomon's seal enclosed
in a guilloche : a line of dots between raised lines, small
pointed palmettes, ^^fleurs-de-lys" in heart shapes, pointed
paimettes linked at the base, alternating with a down-
pointing triangular form at the top, and a band of the
now-familiar interlocked link motif. A fragmentary circle
at the edge contains dots. Probably twelfth century.
178 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 3.6 cm ; South Horn
MMA 36.20.24
Buff core, greenish surface. Mold-made. A winged lion in
profile, head turned front, tail curving above his back.
Background of dots.
179 FRAGMENT
W 4 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MMA 40.170.592
Buff clay. Mold-made, Decoration, flatly molded: a beard-
less male face with low forehead, slit eyes, and an urna,
or tattoo mark, between the brows. A face with a compar-
able mark between the brows appears in the buff ware
(Group 1, 59). Faces appear in the unglazed ware of Merv
that do not closely resemble that of 179 but also have low
foreheads, slit eyes, and are flatly molded (Lunina,
Trudy, XI, p. 335, fig. 68, upper; p. 339, fig. 70).
180 FRAGMENT
H 6 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MMA 40.170.59
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made. At top and bot-
tom, a band of the familiar interlocked link motif. Between
these, a band of well-drawn Kufic letters. A portion of
the background is left plain, a portion dotted.
181 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 7.5 cm ; Falaki
MMA 40.170.600
Buff core, greenish surface. Mold-made. At the neck, a
band of the interlocked link motif. Beneath this, a band
of pseudo-Kufic inscription composed of a pair of vertical
letters alternating with a heart-shaped form, the back-
ground filled with small rings. At the bottom of the frag-
ment, another band of the interlocked link motif.
182 FRAGMENT
W 8.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made. At top, a circle
of stars. Next, a band of the interlocked link motif, fol-
lowed by a band of simple six-petaled rosettes done in
raised outline, placed between pairs of raised vertical
lines. From a high level; twelfth century.
183 FRAGMENT
W 1.25 cm ; exact provenance unknown
MMA 40.170.593
Grayish buff core, greenish surface. Mold-made. A band
of ducks enclosed in curving lines, ground filled with
trifoliate forms and small rings. An exceptional piece of
uncertain origin.
184 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 4.8 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made. Triangles, loz-
enges, and overlapping pear shapes done in raised out-
line, with hatching; the hatching was perhaps added after
the piece was removed from the mold. Perhaps eleventh
century.
185 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 3.6 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.594
Another fragment of this pitcher is in Teheran. Greenish
core and surface. Mold-made, A procession of ducks
against a ground of stars. Beneath, a design of horizontal
S-curves. Perhaps imported from Merv; the procession of
birds recalls molded ware of Merv of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries (Pugachenkova, Sovetskaya Arkheo-
logiya, 2, 1958, pp. 78-91, fig. 8, no. 5).
186 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 11.2 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made. At the top, near
the neck, a band of semicircular arches. Beneath this, a
band of S-forms. Next, a band containing a pear shape
alternating with a simple rosette, both done in raised
outlines, the ground filled with tiny rings.
Unglazed Ware
333
187 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 8 cm ; Bazaar Tepe
MIB
Red core, reddish surface. Mold-made. Three dies were
used to stamp the design in the mold: a iotuslike form
with triple-cusped lower end, a sunburst with hollow
center, and a rosette. For a die that would have stamped
such a rosette, see 144.
188 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 11.4 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170,603
A portion of this fragment is in the Teheran museum.
Greenish core and surface. Mold-made. The principal
feature of the decoration, a motif resembling four bound
bundles of sticks arranged to form a cross, is of unknown
significance. The double-knotted form between the crosses
is a typical twelfth-century motif. The ground is filled
with small rings.
189 PITCHER FRAGMENT
W 15 cm ; Sabz Pushan
MIB
Reddish core, greenish surface. Made in two hemispheri-
cal molds. The upper portion is decorated with a unit of
four ^^leaves" in a cross with a double circle at the center.
The leaves are hatched on either side of a center line. The
background is filled with a pattern of rings contained
within shapes that fit the contours of the leaves, more or
less after the fashion of the decorated compartments seen
in the polychrome on white ware, slip-painted ware with
colored engobe, and ware decorated with yellow-staining
black. Below the wide join are triangular forms containing
a small ring. The major motifs of this piece are unusual,
suggesting an import. Perhaps twelfth century.
190 a,b MOLD
H 16.5, W 9 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.170
The possible purpose and date of this piece and the next
nine are discussed on page 294. The image has been re-
versed in 190a to give the illusion of a cast from the mold
and to emphasize the balanced symmetry of the design.
Made of well-levigated clay, fired dull red. The decoration
seems to have been cut rather than stamped. The face of
the trefoil-tipped bar in the center is at the same level as
the uncut surface of the piece. The design is in two parts,
the upper one rectangular, the lower one in the form of
an inverted ogee arch with an elaborate three-part finial.
Except for this finial, the design is edged by a narrow
band, hatched on the long sides of the rectangular panel,
dotted elsewhere. In addition, the long sides of the panel
are bordered with a device of a double circle and double
semicircle. The hatched and dotted band and the circle -
semicircle device are also to be seen on 191. On either
side of the trefoil-tipped center bar there stands a gro-
tesque figure, its face in profile, with low swelling fore-
head, eye placed too high, retrousse nose, mouth indicated
by a circle. A hatched leaflike form curling beneath its
chin suggests a beard. Extending over the head is a leaflike
projection; a parrotlike head curls up from the stem of
this projection behind the figure's head. The arms of the
two figures meet at a small circle placed above the upper
end of the central bar. Behind each figure there descends
what may be a long cloak; halfway down it is interrupted
by a ^^star." The figures' garments, decorated with stripes,
appear to cling closely to the body. The figures stand
with their legs crossed; their pointed feet resemble bird
heads. Beneath these creatures are two smaller ones of
equally strange appearance. The head of the surviving
one, seen in profile, is tilted back so that it looks up almost
vertically. It appears to wear cow horns. The creature's
arms loop as if they were made of rubber. In each hand it
holds a circular object; a third such object appears be-
neath its nose. Its garment is decorated with a scalelike
or featherlike ornament, each unit filled with a dot and
radiating lines. Between the knees of the lower figures
there is a vertical rectangular shape containing an hour-
glasslike form divided horizontally by two narrow hatched
bands. On either side of this form are three dotted circles
joined by short lines.
Within the ogee arch, written upside down and for
some reason not reversed (as would be proper in a mold)
are these words in Kufic: ''am[l] Muhamma[d\ (made by
Muhammad). The finial above (below?) the arch is com-
posed of two parrotlike heads and a large central cusp.
The heads rise from jeweled collars. The cusp, filled with
concentric pointed forms, is edged with circular dots.
A number of questions about this mold remain to be
answered. Although the inscription indicates that it was
made by a Muslim, the crosslike center bar suggests a
borrowing from Christian iconography. In some Islamic
copies of Byzantine coins the transverse bar of the cross
was omitted, apparently as a concession to the feelings of
the faithful (J. Walker, A Catalogue of the Arab-Byzantine
and Post-Reform Umaiyad Coins^ London, 1956, pp. xxii,
xxiii, pis. V, VI, vm); it is not impossible that 190 offers
an example of a similar procedure. The Christian borrow-
ing may be a misinterpretation, however, since the hour-
glass-shaped object beneath the bar may be a symbol of
the Sasanian altar, which often has this shape. The bird
heads that occur in the decoration would seem to have no
religious connotations. In Nishapur bird heads appear in
various decorative schemes ; for example, in wall paintings
(Hauser 8c Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulle-
tin, April, 1942, p. 104, fig. 28) and in carved plaster wall
decorations (Hauser, op. cit., October, 1937, p. 34, fig.
43; idem, op. cit., October, 1950, p. 60, illustration).
334
Unglazed Ware
191 a MOLD
H 14 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
191 b Modern cast (MMA study piece)
Made of well -levigated clay fired dull red. The decoration
seems to have been cut rather than stamped. It has two
principal motifs : a figure seated cross-legged upon a cush-
ioned stool and a large bird sustaining a human figure
upon its body. Enclosing these figures is a hatched and
dotted band supplemented by a border composed of a
double circle and a double semicircle (compare 190). The
band at the bottom is as a trefoil, its central element form-
ing an ogee arch like the arch on 190. The figure on the
stool sits with one arm outstretched, elbow clear of the
body. There is a slight suggestion that the other hand
held a goblet in front of the body. The figure's garment
has a diaper pattern, broken on one thigh by a roundel
containing a duck and near the knee by a rosette. The
stool's cushion also has a diaper pattern. The stool's legs
and feet take the form of large, down -hanging bird heads.
The head of the large bird, its features placed within a
large circle outlined in dots, has a human appearance.
(A generally similar head occurs on 193.) At each side of
the head, in the space bounded by the leg of the stool
and facing the large bird, is a small bird. Within the out-
lines of the body of the large bird appears a human figure
with owllike face, crossed legs, and "bird-head" feet, both
of which point in the same direction. This figure, much
in the fashion of the upper figures on 190, holds a small
bird in each upraised hand. Two large bosses between the
large bird's wings and the lower part of the human figure
may represent the bird's feet. The bird's wings, open but
not fully putstretched, are adorned at the top with a
rosette. The feathers surrounding it are of the same form
as the pattern on the lower figures of 190. The longer
feathers of the wing are treated as stripes, alternately plain
and herringboned. The tail, treated similarly, spreads out
to match the shape of the outline beneath it.
The principal motifs of this mold — the seated figure
and the bird and human figure — are well known in both
Islamic and non -Islamic art. Combined, though in a some-
what different form, they appear in a twelfth-century ceil-
ing painting in the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, which,
though decorated for Christians, has much Islamic icon-
ography (U. M. de Villard, Le Pitture Musulmane al
Soffitto delta Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Rome, 1950,
fig. 245; Ettinghausen, Arab Paintings p. 46). Not only
does this bird contain a human figure, in this instance a
seated man with upraised arms, but the painting has
immediately above it a seated figure holding a glass of
wine in front of his chest; the very combination that is
seen on 191. It must be pointed out, however, that such
seated figures in these ceiling paintings also appear over
other symbolic forms than the bird with a human form
incorporated in its body. Whether the combination of the
two motifs shown in the Cappella and at Nishapur is co-
incidence or not cannot be established.
Although a number of Sasanian and post-Sasanian fig-
ures sit with their hands upon their knees, a pose with
upraised hand, similar to that on 191, occurs on a carved
slab built into the wall of the Seljuq citadel at Konya,
dated 1221 (T. T. Rice, The Seljuks in Asia Minor^ New
York, 1961, p. 60). As for the large bird, it has analogies
in Byzantine art (Falke, Kunstgeschichte der Seidenwerherei^
II, fig. 251) as well as Islamic (ibid., I, fig. 183), even
though its head is usually presented in profile in both.
The presence of the human figure suggests a variation of
the Ganymede theme. Iranicized before the Islamic era,
the theme is represented on a Sasanian silver dish where-
on the youth has become a female figure (Pope, Survey^ I,
p. 882, fig. 306). It is more likely, however, that the bird
on 191 is meant to be the simurgh^ the beneficent creature
that cared for Zal, the son of Sam, when his father
abandoned him — a story told in the Shah-nama, The
simurgh also plays a part in Sufi mysticism as a symbol of
wisdom. In an allegory by the poet Farid al-Din Attar,
who lived in Nishapur in the twelfth century and whose
tomb is still venerated there, there is much play on the
word simurgh. Divided si murgh^ it means "thirty birds."
Attar speaks of the quest of thirty birds — Sufi pilgrims —
for the simurgh^ the truth of God (E, G. Browne, A Liter-
ary History of Persia, Cambridge, 1928, II, pp. 512 ff.).
The round, dot-encircled face of the bird on 191 may
have some relationship to another reference in the same
poem: "Without speech came the answer from that Pres-
ence [the simurgh]^ saying, 'This sunlike Presence is a
Mirror.' " It is not known how much of the thought in
the allegory was original with Attar. Certainly it is possi-
ble that he was acquainted with such pictorial representa-
tions as survive on 191.
192 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 5.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Decoration: a human figure contained within a circular
band. Crossed legs, small, pointed feet. A double row of
dotted scales at the waist. Horizontal markings on the
upper body and on the thighs.
193 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.171
Two human figures placed in line with their heads apart,
the soles of their feet meeting. The portion of the head
that survives (seen at the top in the illustration) indicates
that it was round, like that of the large bird on 191. The
hands are held one above the other in front of the chest,
the fingers extended. The dress is decorated with a dotted
Crosshatch. The two borders are reminiscent of those on
190 and 191, although the proportions of the motifs of
the inner border are not the same. At the side of the mold,
a small deep circular hole, as though for a peg or pin.
Unglazed Ware
335
194 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 10 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
The outer circle, composed of concentric lines, gives off
four smaller circles that fill most of the center area. The
ridges between the concentric lines are rounded. The
smaller circles have a deeply cut center hole. In the cen-
ter, a lozenge. From one side of the principal circle there
projects an ornament somewhat resembling the head of
an owl, its shape suggesting a Chinese influence. There is
an indication that this ornament was perhaps repeated on
the opposite side of the circle.
195 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 7.7 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.174
A panel with ogee top and bottom. At the bottom, two
eyelike shapes with center holes; at the top, a circle with
a similar hole. In the center of the panel, a lozenge with
a circular hole. At the sides, a border of three small leaf-
like forms. The lower portion of the panel appears in a
larger, more elaborate version on 198. At the top and one
side of 195 can be seen the beginnings of additional
patterns.
196 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.172
Evidently a rosette, the center cut deep and edged by a
convex ring, around which a blunt petal with concave
border alternates with a pointed petal with convex border.
197 MOLD FRAGMENT
L 6.3 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
Perhaps for a border. A neatly drawn Kufic inscription in
two lines, correctly reversed for a mold, with one line
placed upside down above the other. Possible reading:
al muzaffar (the victorious).
198 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 5.5 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MIB
A panel design similar to that of 195 but on a larger scale
and with more elaboration. The two ^^eyes" have lost
their centers.
199 MOLD FRAGMENT
H 8 cm ; Tepe Madraseh
MMA 40.170.173
A blank panel enclosed by two interwoven bands, the bot-
tom and sides drawn straight, the top, scalloped. A panel
of diagonal hatching added at the bottom. Except for this
hatching, the cutting is shallower than in the preceding
pieces, including 190 and 191, and were the piece not
fired, one might think the work incomplete.
200 PLAQUE FRAGMENT
H 12.5 cm ; Village Tepe
MIB
The principal element is a Christian cross. Its shaft must
have divided at the bottom and curled up as two stems,
ending in a leaf and a smaller cross. From the top of the
cross there grows a stem that divides, each half furnished
with an up-pointing bud, a leaf, and a bunch of grapes.
Circular forms at the tips of the cross's arms recall like
decorations on the Nestorian crosses in the buff ware
(Group 1, 48, 49). The cross and its added decorations
are contained between columns surmounted by a semi-
circular arch. Above this, six trefoils hang from the junc-
tions of a horizontal line of small arches. The spandrels
between the main arch and the upper panel are filled with
another trefoil. Probably tenth or eleventh century. The
leaved cross, known in East Christian art as early as the
sixth century, was a motif adopted by the Nestorians,
among others (Rice, Byzantinoslavica^ XI, pp. 72-81,
fig. 9, showing a Nestorian stucco plaque of the eighth
century from Hira with such a cross).
Unglazed Ware
337
338
Unglazed Ware
Unglazed Ware
339
54
344
U.nglazed Ware
55
Unglazed Ware
345
346
Unglazed Ware
348
Un glazed Ware
Unglazed Ware
353
354
Unglazed Ware
118 119 120 121 122
134 13S 136
Unglazed Ware
357
166
Unglazed Ware
359
360
Unglazed Ware
362
Unglazed Ware
Appendix
364
COHN-WIENER PHOTOGRAPHS
Appendix
1, Fragment of polychrome on
white ware; Afrasiyab, tenth
century. Samarkand museum.
Appendix
365
Bowl fragment with type of
design not found in Nishapur;
Afiasiyab, tenth century. Sam-
arkand museum. (See Stoharov
Photograph 4, row D, no. 11.)
3. Dish fragments; said by Mrs.
Cohn- Wiener to come from
Nogai Kurgan, ninth century (?).
Tashkent Museum.
366
Appendix
STOLIAROV PHOTOGRAPHS
Ceramics of Afrasiyab, ninth and tenth centuries.
368
Appendix
Appendix
369
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